


I . j 



i 



THE CORRESPONDENCE 



THOMAS Q.RAY AND WILLIAM MASON, 



TO WHICH ARE ADDED 



SOME LETTERS ADDRESSED BY GRAY 



THE REV. JAMES BROWN, D.D. 

MASTER OF PEMBROKE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 



WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 

BY THE REV. JOHN MITEORJ), 

VICAR OF BENHALL. 



LONDON: 
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 

1853. 



fit M* 



WESTMINSTER : 

JOHN BOWYER NICHOLS AND SONS, 

25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 






THE EEV. ALEXANDER DYCE, ,„ 

WHOSE EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR EAELY POETRT, 

ADDED TO A FAMILIAR ACQUAINTANCE WITH THAT OF GREECE AND ROME, 

AND WHOSE SUCCESSFUL LABOURS ON THE WORKS OF THOSE 

WHO FLOURISHED IN THE BEST PERIOD OF THE DRAMA, 

FROM THE DAYS OF SHAKSPERE TO SHIRLEY, 

BY RESTORING THE AUTHENTIC PURITY OF THE TEXT, 

Br EXPLAINING THE OBSOLETE AMBIGUITIES OF THE LANGUAGE, 

AND BY HIUSTRATING THE FORGOTTEN MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE AGE, 

HAVE PLACED HEM AS A COMMENTATOR AND CRITIC 

IN HONOURABLE EQUALITY WITH TYRWHITT AND WARTON ; 

THIS VOLUME, 

IN MEMORY OF A LONG FRIENDSHIP, 

COMMENCED BY THE ATTRACTION OF SIMILAR STUDIES, 

AND CONTINUED IN THE CONFIDENCE OF MUTUAL REGARD, 

IS INSCRIBED 

BY HIS FAITHFUL SERVANT, 

THE EDITOR. 



Benkall, 
September 1 5th, 1853, 



PREFACE. 



The Correspondence between Gray and Mason, 
which is now published in its entire form, was 
carefully preserved and arranged by the latter, 
from which he made a partial selection in his 
Memoirs of Gray. This volume at his death 
was bequeathed to his friend Mr. Stonhewer, 
and from him it passed into the hands of his 
relative, Mr. Bright of Skeffington Hall, Leices- 
tershire. When, in the year 1845, the library 
of Gray was sold by the sons of that gentleman, 
then deceased, this volume of Correspondence 
was purchased by Mr. Penn of Stoke Park, and 
by him was kindly placed in my hands for 
publication.^ 

Some engagements at the time prevented my 
preparing it for the press ; and further delay 

* One letter, addressed to West, and the " Travels," have 
been placed in the beginning of this Correspondence, as 
forming part of the manuscripts collected by Mason; the 
letter to West being imperfectly printed by Mason, and the 
Travels having been printed only in the late edition of Gray, 
will probably not be unacceptable to the readers of the volume. 



VI PREFACE. 

arose from the difficulty experienced in ex- 
plaining the obscure allusions, and identifying 
the persons mentioned in it. This was only to 
be removed by inquiries to be made at a dis- 
tance, which occupied much time, and which, 
often proving unsatisfactory, had to be renewed 
in other channels. In the Correspondence of 
Lord Chesterfield, of Walpole, and others, we 
meet with names more or less familiar to the 
reader from the literary eminence, or social rank, 
or political notoriety attached to them, and less 
difficulty is felt in giving such notice of them 
as is required for the reader's instruction ; but 
Gray's correspondence was maintained for the 
most part in the seclusion of a collegiate life, 
and often relates to the small private circle of 
friends with whom he was connected, and to 
events only of local and partial importance. 
To give some personality to names, most of 
them new, even to those who are acquainted 
with the common biographies of Gray, has 
been found, from the lapse of time, a matter 
of some difficulty ; and success has only been 
attained by the assistance of various friends. 
To have passed over this part of the task would 
have been unsatisfactory, and considered a 



PREFACE. Vll 

dereliction of duty ; and, though many of the 
persons whom the reader will meet with in 
these letters have remained unnoticed, and their 
names publicly unknown, they formed the 
select and intimate society of one who was 
not remarkable for the facility with which his 
acquaintance was gained, and who required 
some more than ordinary proofs of excellence 
in that select few on whom the confidence of 
his friendship was bestowed. This part of my 
task has been performed to the best of my 
ability ; less successfully, perhaps, than I could 
have wished, but scarcely short of my expecta- 
tions when I first entered upon it, as more 
than a century has passed since the Corre- 
spondence commenced, and those who could 
best have explained it have long passed away.* 
Perhaps the effect of it, on the whole, will be 
to remove some portion of the general im- 
pression of Gray's solitary and secluded life, 
and to show that, though deprived of domestic 

* From the Venerable J. Oldershaw, Archdeacon of Norfolk, 
and Rector of Redenhall, and from Mr. Professor Smyth, of 
Cambridge, I received some few anecdotes of the persons who 
were the contemporaries of Gray, with a faint remembrance of 
him from their communication ; and I believe that with these 
two all further knowledge from personal recollection has closed. 



Vlll PIIEEACE. 

endearments, he had a small enlightened circle 
of friends in his own and in other colleges, by 
whom he was esteemed, and to whose society 
he could always resort : and with many also 
beyond the precincts of the university he held 
correspondence. At Mason's rectory at Aston, 
at Dr. Wharton's, further north, in Durham, 
at Mr. Chute's at the Vine, he was a frequent 
visitor; and at Stoke, once his mother's re- 
sidence, he could always enjoy the leisure and 
quiet that were so welcome and necessary to 
him. # In his later years, such was his high 
reputation and character, that whoever received 
him as a guest felt that an honour had been 
conferred. His friends treasured up his little 
familiar sayings and manner of expression ; f 

* Amidst many changes, the room in this house at Stoke 
which Gray occupied has been very piously preserved, as 
a spot of classic interest, not to be disturbed or defaced, 
when all around it has undergone alteration. A view of it 
may be seen in the Eton edition of Gray published by Mr. 
Williams. 

■f As, for instance, in one of Mason's unpublished letters, 
in his Correspondence with Lord Harcourt, he says, — " My 
servants are in what Mr. Gray called the fever of packing up 
for my York residence." — Aug. 10, 1793. For the notice of 
this passage I am indebted to my friend Mr. Samuel Rogers, who 
met with it when reading the Correspondence preserved at 



PREFACE. IX 

and a gentleman, who long after the death of 
Gray paid a visit to Mr. Mcholls of Blundeston, 
told me that for the week he remained in the 
honse the conversation turned almost entirely 
upon Gray. # 

It may perhaps be asked, why a narrative 
containing a more complete account of the 
circumstances of Gray's life, which would have 
included also a fuller mention of his friends, 
did not appear in Mason's Memoirs — a work 
that has formed the foundation of all subse- 
quent biographies. That volume, which was 
dedicated by a grateful hand to the memory 
of his illustrious friend, and which has been 
ever esteemed a model of elegant composition 
and structure, was made with great and careful 
consideration of the duty to be performed, and 
with an unusual delicacy in the selection of 
the materials ; and this was deemed requisite 
at the time, which followed so closely on Gray's 

Nuneham, which has subsequently been very kindly lent to 
me by the present proprietor, and for which I publicly 
express my thanks. 

* The anecdotes of Gray given in Mr. Mathias's observa- 
tions on his character and writings are all derived from Mr. 
Nicholls. Mr. Mathias was resident at Cambridge during the 
last year of Gray's life, but he never saw him. 



X PREFACE. 

death. Notwithstanding the general bright- 
ness of the poet's reputation, and the consent 
of the " chosen few " in the admission of his 
superior genius, the Elegy * was in truth the 
only one of his poems that was universally 
popular. The subject of it was attractive ; the 
imagery recommended by its elegance ; and 
the sentiments and reflections were not too 
deep for the common apprehension. " The 
Churchyard, " Johnson says, " abounds with 
images which find a mirror in every mind, and 
with sentiments to which every bosom returns 
an echo. The four stanzas beginning c Yet e'en 
these bones ' are to me original. I have never 
seen the notions in any other place. Yet he 
that reads them here persuades himself that 
he has always felt them." t This was not 
the case with the Odes.J The principles 

* As a curiosity in criticism, I give the notice of Gray's 
Elegy as it appeared in the leading review of the day — the 
Monthly Review. "An Elegy in a Country Churchyard. 4to. 
Dodsley. Seven pages. — The excellence of this little piece 
amply compensates for its want of quantity " 

j" " C'est le coeur, il faut l'avouer, plus que l'esprit, qui lit la 
poesie." 

\ I am speaking of those Odes on which his high reputation 
is chiefly founded, and which were the matured products of 
his later years. The Ode to Eton College has always and 



PREFACE. XI 

on which they were formed, and the orna- 
ments they required, were less adapted to 
the public taste and knowledge. They were 
of too high a flight. The system was too re- 
fined, the ideal abstractions too remote, and 
the language perhaps too learned and elabo- 
rate. There was no story to unfold by which 
passion could be excited, nor any narrative to 
allure by which curiosity could be gratified. 
The reviewers of the day cavilled at them ; 
the men of wit endeavoured to hold them up 
to ridicule ; and even Hurd, the leading critic 
of that age, mentioned them with a courteous 
and attempered praise, as beyond the common 
vein of such things. Mason, therefore, was 
careful in the additions he made to what already 
had appeared, and did not even dare to present 

deservedly been a great favourite; and what we possess of 
the beautiful Fragment on Vicissitude makes us lament its 
unfinished form, for it would probably have equalled the other 
in merit and popularity. It is curious that Dr Barnard, a 
scholar in the first rank and a poet, should have been unfa- 
vourable to the publication of this fragment, unless he thought 
it injurious to Gray's reputation to have the " sweepings of 
his study " made public. On the new lyrical metre of these 
noble Odes, the Bard and the Progress of Poetry, unknown 
before Gray, and on their surpassing excellence, see Mathias's 
Observations on Gray's Writings, p. 71. 



Xll PREFACE. 

that beautiful torso or fragment alluded to in 
the note without repairing and completing it 
with his own hands. While to enlarge the 
circle of personal anecdote, and to admit the 
public with open confidence into a more inti- 
mate knowledge of Gray's private life and 
habits of intercourse, Mason would have con- 
sidered as almost treacherous to his friend, as 
it was also directly opposed to his own temper 
and conduct, which was, to all but his intimate 
friends, cold and reserved, and not without a 
disposition to form austere and perhaps un- 
favourable judgments of others.* 

* Mason was much governed in his opinions and judg- 
ments by his strong political feelings. He hated a Tory, 
and this must have been the chief cause of his dislike of his 
Diocesan, which he too openly showed, both in conduct and 
in correspondence ; but the manner in which he speaks, in a 
letter I possess, of two ladies whose recent loss society is now 
lamenting, and whose varied attainments formed only one part 
of the fascinations they possessed, must have arisen, I think, 
from their having superseded him in the friendship of the 
master of Strawberry Hill. Mason's satirical powers were 
dormant at no period of his life. The world only knew them 
as they appeared from him "jam senior Peleus ;" but they 
burst out when he was yet at the university, " nee adhuc 
maturus Achilles" and continued in various flashes through 
his whole life. 



PREFACE. Xlil 

Vigilantly to guard Gray's memory from 
any attack upon it, nor by imprudent or 
incautious admissions of his own to afford 
ground for critical animadversion or envious 
cavil, was his object. Eor this he kept some 
poetical pieces in reserve ; # for this he used the 
large epistolary stores, placed from various 
quarters in his hands, with a severe ceconomy 
of selection ; and, with this in view, he abridged 
and transposed the letters he did publish so 
that scarcely one is entire or unaltered. Yet 
that Mason performed his work of love in the 
best manner it could have been done must be 
acknowledged ; and into no other hands could 
it have been with such safety entrusted,! for 
there were then difficulties in more freely open- 
ing the volume of private life. Within the 
walls of the university and without, there were 
private jealousies and personal animosities that 
might have been awakened ; and in one or two 

* Mr. Fox used to lament that Mason withheld any of 
Gray's Translations from the Classics, so valuable to an English 
reader. 

j I have heard that he asked and obtained the assistance 
of his frieDd Dr. Hurd in the selection of the papers; but 
there is no authority for the report that I am aware of, except 
a casual and private letter. 



XIV PREFACE. 

instances, where Mason has seemed to break 
through his usual chain of reserve, I question 
whether he was not incited by the dislike which 
he himself felt for the persons held up to ridi- 
cule and contempt by his friend. 

Some difficulties have arisen, which, how- 
ever, I hope are mostly overcome, from Gray's 
habit of mentioning those of whom he wrote 
only by the initial letters of their name. This 
was partly a matter of habit, partly of usage 
by others, and partly, I think, it grew out of 
a general distrust of the post-office at that 
period. Walpole has repeated his suspicions 
or complaints on the subject ; and I found 
that much of Mason's correspondence with him 
was transmitted through private hands. Gray 
also indulged in a habit, that seemed very 
amusing to him, of designating his friends 
and others by what the French call le so- 
briquet, by us termed nicknames. # Thus, 

* Nicknames were commonly given to political characters 
in those days. Lord Temple was called " Tiddy-doll ;" the 
Duke of Cumberland " the Butcher;" Lord Shelburne's title 
is well known ; and many may be seen in the newspapers of 
the time, and some are mentioned in the notes to the Grenville 
Correspondence, iv. p. 171-2, and iii. Pref. xxxiii. 



PREFACE. XV 

King George the Second is styled " the 
Old Horse;" the Duke of Newcastle "Old 
Pobus;" Lord Sandwich " Jemmy Twitcher;" 
Mr. Brown, the Fellow of Pembroke, " Le 
Petit Bon Homme;" the Rev. Mr. Palgrave 
" Old Pa. ;" and Mason himself was " Scrod- 
dles." Through these verbal masks, however, 
the real persons were easily discovered; but 
why Lord Harcourt, in his Manuscript Corre- 
spondence with Mason, always calls Horace 
"Walpole "your wine merchant," is an enigma 
that I have not yet been able to decipher. 

The university in which Gray resided so large 
a portion of his life, # could not with justice be 
censured if it did not bestow its voluntary 
honours on one, who lived there as a private 
person, almost unconnected with it, and without 
any official capacity or rank ; nor could he be 
said to be neglected, whose characteristic re- 
serve forbade any ready approach to him ; but 
he was treated with the general respect due to 
his great talents and acquirements, and some 
few of the most enlightened and illustrious 
members of the society are ranked among his 

* He was entered a fellow commoner of Pembroke Hall;, 
and in that capacity he resided there. 



XVI PREFACE. 

friends. # In his later years, from growing in- 
firmity, he did not often appear in public, 
unless occasionally a day of sunshine, and the 
softer breath of spring, allured him to the 
Botanic Garden, to watch the progress of vege- 
tation (one of his daily occupations in his own 
rooms), and to make an addition to his floral 
calendar.! Beyond his own college, therefore, 
he was personally but little known ; and his 
studies and pursuits were totally unconnected 
with those of the society among which he 
lived. In the Letters, however, now printed, 
his opinions of men and things may be dis- 

* These observations have been occasioned by the remark 
made by a late writer, " Cambridge, indeed, though honoured 
by the education of almost all the great poets of our country, 
has not been very propitious to the votaries of the Muse. 
Spenser, Milton, Dryden, Cowley, Otway, and Gray, were 
dismissed by their respective societies, if not without an 
acknowledgment, at least without the reward of their 
genius," &c. To this reproach the university, I think, may 
readily find an answer from a better hand than mine : 
Non nostrum est, inquam, tantas attingere laudes. 

"j" Gray, during the chief part of his life, kept a daily record 
of the blowing of flowers, the leafing of trees, the state of the 
thermometer, the quarter from which the wind blew, and the 
falling of rain: these he entered into his pocket journals, in 
his delicate and correct handwriting, with the utmost pre- 
cision, and sometimes into a naturalist's calendar in addition. 



PREFACE. XV11 

closed, without the imputation of any improper 
or offensive freedom, for time has removed all 
objections that could once have been reasonably 
made ; while, through them, a fuller and more 
lively portrait of himself may be obtained. 
The close reserve of his general manner may 
be advantageously contrasted with his playful 
humour and kindness to his friends ; his warm 
attachments and his affectionate language may 
be seen coming more brightly out of the cold 
surface of his common demeanour ; perhaps 
showing that some part of it was assumed, 
as a necessary defence against intrusion and 
curiosity. " The melancholy Gray " will not 
indeed disappear altogether ; and there were 
events and disappointments which had affected 
him deeply, the effects and remembrance of 
which he never could remove ; but, more than 
all, " the long disease of life" accompanied 
him from his earliest to his latest years, 
and clouded with a constant and melancholy 
shadow the best and brightest days of his ex- 
istence. His private journals, some of which I 
possess, and others which I have read, mark, 
day by day, the fatal presence and progress of 
disease, and the vigilant attention and careful 

b 



XV111 PREFACE. 

means by which, however ineffectually, he en- 
deavoured to meet its influence. He kept the 
records relating to his health in Latin, and 
such expressions as the following occur in 
almost every page : — " Insomnia crebra, atque 
expergiscenti surdus quidem doloris sensus ; 
frequens etiam in regione sterni oppressio et 
cardialgia gravis, fere sempiterna." A com- 
plete decay of the powers of nature, long 
threatening and steadily advancing, preceded 
his death. # 

Much has been said of the fastidious delicacy 
of his manners and habits of life; this, how- 
ever, he had in common with Walpole, being 
probably acquired or increased by both during 
their residence abroad ; and it would have been 
less noticed, or more readily overlooked, in 
one to whose rank and fortune it might be 
supposed to belong; but in Gray it appeared 
in stronger contrast with his circumscribed 
means, his slender fortune, and his humbler 

* The Rev. Mr. Carey, through whom the great Florentine 
Poet has become our own, has mentioned his conversing with 
the college servant who helped to remove Gray from the 
dinner table in the hall, when suddenly attacked by his last 
fatal illness. 



PREFACE. XIX 

station, which brought him into the society 
of persons of a different character and habits : 
perhaps, too, some part of it, in any excess 
beyond what was natural to him, was as- 
sumed, to keep his secluded path of life as 
clear from interruption and inquisitive approach 
as he could. His main resource against the 
depressing influence of disease Avas in constant 
employment. Mason, in a letter to Lord Har- 
court, says, " ' To be employed, is to be happy,' 
said Gray ; and if he had never said anything 
else, either in prose, or even in verse, he would 
have deserved the esteem of all posterity."* He 
certainly practised as he spoke ; for his library 
bore witness to an extent of curiosity, a per- 
severance of research, and an accuracy of ob- 
servation, with a minute diligence in recording 
what he had gained, and gathering in the 
harvest of the day, that is hardly to be pa- 
ralleled in any one who was so gifted with 
original genius, and the power of forming his 
own creations of thought. Moreover, this in- 
defatigable attention was not always devoted 
to the accomplishment of any one particular 

* From an unpublished letter, Feb. 20, 1792. See also 
Dr. Wharton's letter in the present volume, p. 465. 

b 2 



XX PREFACE. 

object, or the completion of any favourite in- 
quiry, but extended over every branch of lite- 
rature remote from common curiosity, and was 
pursued through the minutest and most distant 
channels of research ; so that on many subjects 
it would appear as pointing to no other end but 
that of making time subservient to the abstract 
investigation of truth, and the general enlarge- 
ment of knowledge. It was said of a contem- 
porary of his, " that he never touched any 
subject which he did not adorn ;" # but of 
Gray it may with as much truth be observed, 
that he seldom closed his laborious inquiries 
till he had exhausted the means of further 
investigation. To him, the Genealogical Re- 
searches of Dugdale were incomplete ; the 
scientific language of Linnaeus imperfect ; and 
the History of the Chinese Dynasties, in fifteen 
quarto volumes, by Grosier, needed his verbal 
corrections, and supplemental improvements, 
before it was worthy of being enrolled in the 
archives of Pekin. 

Gibbon, it is well known, in a Note to his His- 



* Dr. Johnson said of Goldsmith, " Nullum tetigit quod 
non ornavit," though in Latinity somewhat dubious. 



PREFACE. XXI 

tory, lamented, "that Gray, instead of compiling 
tables of chronology and natural history, did 
not apjriy the powers of his genius to finish the 
philosophical poem, of which he left so ex- 
quisite a specimen;" but a later writer, # in 
his admiration of Gray's genins, has far ex- 
ceeded the cautious language and the moderate 
desires of the Historian ; and has regretted to 
behold " the fatal gulf of pertinacious industry 
in which the Poet's fire and genius was seen to 
drop, and which perhaps extinguished in its 
first conception some great epic work, which 
would have placed the author on a level, which 
he was entitled to ascend, with Spenser and 
Tasso." The answer however to the reason- 
able wish of Gibbon, in which all mnst par- 
ticipate, will also suffice for the more am- 
bitious vision of the other admirer, and show 
why such lofty aims could not be accom- 
plished. When a friend once asked of Gray, 
why he never finished the fragment of " The 
Alliance of Education and Government," he 

* I allude to Dr. Whitaker, the historian, antiquary, and 
philologer, &c. a person of learning, talents, and high character, 
and who added to great acquirements much of the elegance 
and enthusiasm of the poetic mind. 



Xxil PREFACE. 

said, " Because he could not;" and then ex- 
plained himself somewhat to this effect, ' I 
have been used to write chiefly lyric poetry, in 
which, the poems being short, I have accus- 
tomed myself to polish every part of them with 
care, and, as this has become a habit, I can 
scarcely write in any other manner ; the labour 
of this in a long poem would hardly be to- 
lerable, and, if accomplished, it might possibly 
be deficient in effect, by wanting the chiaro- 
scuro;' Mr. Mathias also says, that when 
one asked Gray why he had written so little 
poetry, he answered, " It was from the great 
exertion it cost him in the labour of compo- 
sition." # 

That this limce labor was irksome and un- 
satisfactory may be seen in the number of 
unfinished pieces which he left behind him, 
the Agrippina — the Ode to Vicissitude — the 
Fragment on Government— the Hymn to Ig- 
norance — the Latin poem De Principiis Cogi- 
tandi; and even The Bard itself — called his 
great lyric master-piece — was for some years 
lying by him, and only finished by an accident. 

* " Me juvat raris auribus placere." Martial, Ep. ii. 86. 



PREFACE. XX111 

And now we may safely hesitate before we 
repeat the complaint of the misapplication of 
the Poet's studies and occupation. 

Each species of poetry seems distinguished 
from another by its peculiar and characteristic 
style, and it is praise enough, when the attain- 
ment of excellence is so rare, to have acquired 
a mastery over one. " The nearest approach 
to perfection," says a writer on a kindred art, 
" can only be in carrying to excellence one 
great quality with the least alloy of collateral 
defects." 

Thus we find that Gray's delicately enamelled 
language, sparkling with the gems culled from 
the remoter treasures of our early poetry, woven 
into lyric harmony, and set off with depth 
of colour and variety of imagery, could not 
be successfully transplanted into the broader 
spaces of a different species, without losing 
its characteristic and congenial beauty, — that 
the structure of the Epic fable demanded a dif- 
ferent treatment from the language of the Lyre, 
which requires a greater elevation of diction, 
bolder figures, transitions less smoothly con- 
nected, and digressions more sudden and re- 
mote. Nor must it be forgotten that in the 



XXIV PREFACE. 

construction of works of great length and high 
design, which appeal to the hest faculties of the 
intellect, where reason must approve what ima- 
gination admires, there is wanted an energy of 
will, and a vigorous concentration of the powers, 
that will not weary under the pressure of the 
duty that is undertaken; that can awaken at 
will Inspiration from her repose, and send 
Imagination on the wing after new conquests ; 
and, readily acknowledging his commanding 
genius, we must confess that this great task 
could scarcely have been accomplished by the 
author of the Bard. To him the calmer occu- 
pation of research, and the studious contem- 
plation of the thoughts of others, through the 
medium of some favourite pursuit, would be 
better adapted ; and then, if the Muse did visit 
him in his happier hours, she would come to 
gather the fruits which leisure had accumu- 
lated ; and to find a mind willing to welcome 
her, enriched with study and invigorated by 
repose; with new sentiments to warm the 
heart, and fresh knowledge to animate the 
mind. 

Perhaps too it might be said, that under the 
shelter of academic bowers is not to be found 



PREFACE. XXV 

the most favourable residence of the Muse, nor 
that the seat of science and learning is most 
congenial to the exercise of the poetic faculty, 
which expands freely when concentrating its 
powers in its own domain. The means of 
gratifying an extended curiosity with ease, 
among the rich libraries of an university, and a 
natural sympathy with the pursuits of others, 
must have a strong tendency to disengage the 
mind from its own proper exercise and con- 
genial occupations ; from the thoughts that 
find their best culture in solitary reflection ; 
and from the steadfast contemplation of those 
ideal creations that are reflected in the mirror 
of the visionary world. 

The letters which contain the verbal correc- 
tions and criticisms on Mason's Poetry will not 
be read without interest, at least by those who 
know the great attention paid by Gray to pro- 
priety and perspicuity of expression, and to the 
language transparently representing the image 
of the thought. They will, I think, not only 
admit the general correctness of Gray's obser- 
vations, but feel somewhat surprised that a 
person like Mason, cradled in poetry, should 
have given room for them in so great a degree ; 



XXVI PREFACE. 

but there is a passage, for which we are in- 
debted to the recollection of Mr. Mcholls, 
which will throw some light on the subject ; 
and though the name of the person alluded to, 
from obvious motives, is not mentioned by him, 
that of the author of Oaractacus is to be under- 
stood. — ; " Speaking of a modern writer, whose 
poetry was sometimes too languid, Mr. Gray 
said, ' it was not a matter of words, for he never 
gave himself time to think, but he imagined 
that he should succeed best by writing hastily 
in the first fervour of his imagination; and 
therefore he never waited for epithets if they 
did not occur at the time readily, but left spaces 
for them, and put them in afterwards. This 
enervated his poetry, and will do so universally 
if that method is adopted ; for nothing is done 
so well as at the first concoction;' and he 
added, ' We think in words ; poetry consists 
in expression, if that term be properly under- 
stood.' " * 

I have still some materials by me which I 
think will not be unacceptable to the public, 
partly relating to Gray and partly to those con- 

* See Mathias's observations on Mr. Gray's Writings, p. 51. 



PREFACE. XXV11 

nectecl with him and his history, that may 
serve to illustrate what is already published, 
and complete in some points our acquaintance 
with the circumstances of his life. It was the 
intention of Gray to collect and publish the 
poetical remains of his friend Richard West ; 
and probably this tablet, inscribed by the hand 
of friendship, would have given us in words 
warm from the heart, such a portrait of one 
whose genius and virtues were laid in too early 
a tomb, as would have shewn from what a rich 
and copious source the few, but beautiful, re- 
mains we possess had sprung, and what might 
have been expected from him in the maturity 
of his powers. Why Gray left his design un- 
accomplished is not known; but it may be 
endeavoured, with the assistance of new ma- 
terials, not indeed to supply the office which 
he left unfulfilled, but to raise the best monu- 
ment to the memory of West from his own 
works which, at so late a period, can be done. 
Together with these it is proposed to give 
extracts from a few unpublished manuscripts of 
Mason, and chiefly from his correspondence 
with his friends, and some letters from other 
hands, which may form no unpleasing commen- 



XXV111 PREFACE. 

tary on the character and writings of Horace 
Walpole. 

In this manner the little circle of friends 
may again he Drought together, and the few 
additional touches that will he the result, may 
perhaps he considered as not without their 
value. In the meantime I present my readers 
with some brief notes on Gray by the hand 
of Waipole; I do not know the time when 
they were written. They are indeed very 
unfinished, and seem to have been composed 
in haste ; but they have added something 
to our knowlege of the Poet's history, and 
they acquire an authentic value from the quar- 
ter from which they come. And now it only 
remains for me publicly to express my thanks 
to those who, in the most friendly manner, have 
assisted me in my inquiries ; — to the Rev. J. 
Power, Pellow of Pembroke College, I am under 
deep obligations ; and, while I scarcely know 
what apologies will excuse the trouble which I 
gave, I yet most gratefully acknowledge the 
value of the information it produced : — in my 
friend Mr. T. Watts, of the British Museum, 
I possess a treasure-house of literary infor- 
mation, to which I have never applied in vain ; 



PREFACE. XXIX 

for his power to instruct is always accompanied 
by his readiness to oblige : — my learned friend 
the Rev. Joseph Hunter never refused me a 
request, though sometimes not very reason- 
ably made : — nor am I under obligations of 
less weight to Mr. Charles Wright, Libra- 
rian to Mr. Penn, who, in the most liberal 
manner, placed all the manuscripts and books, 
which consisted of the most valuable portion 
of Gray's library, at my command, and assisted 
me by his knowledge in the examination and 
use I made of them. 

Gray's Correspondence with the Rev. James 
Brown, which I received from the same quarter 
as the other, will be found to form a valuable 
addition to it. The Master of Pembroke Col- 
lege was honoured by the friendship of the 
Poet during his life, and to him was committed 
the sacred duty of accompanying his remains 
to the grave. 

It would have been of advantage if I could 
have had access once more to the original 
manuscripts of this Correspondence, by a colla- 
tion of which I believe a few slight errors 
might be corrected, and the orthography of 
one or two names rectified. This, however, 



XXX PREFACE. 

from circumstances that occurred, it was not in 
Mr. Wright's power to bestow ; and I believe 
that no mistake has occurred in the transcript 
which can be considered of real importance. 
A few words, however, used in the freedom of 
familiar correspondence, have been omitted in- 
tentionally by me. 

If the notes which I have added serve to ex- 
plain the text and assist the reader, my purpose, 
which is a very humble one, is fulfilled. " Illam 
arrogantiam a me vehementer amolior, et ob- 
nixe postulo, ut credar eruditos docere voluisse. 
Sentio enim quam sint pleraque in his per- 
vulgata, et quotidianse apud literatos observa- 
tionis. Sint mo do iis accepta, qui adhuc in 
discendo occupantur. Si quae apud Graium 
obscura sunt, aliquatenus illustrent, si quae 
errata, forte corrigant; effecero quod volui, et 
liberavero, in quantum potui, fidem meam." 



" ME. THOMAS GEAY. 

(BY THE HON. HORACE WALPOLE.) 

" He was the son of a money scrivener, by 
Mary Antrobus, a milliner in Cornhill, and 
sister to two Antrobus' s who were ushers of 
Eton School. He was born in 1716, and edu- 
cated at Eton College, chiefly under the di- 
rection of one of his uncles, who took prodigious 
pains with him, which answered exceedingly. 
He particularly instructed him in the virtues 
of simples. He had a great genius for music 
and poetry. Erom Eton he went to Peter 
House at Cambridge, and in 1739 accompanied 
Mr. H. "W. in travelling to Prance and Italy. 
He returned in 1741, and returned to Cambridge 
again. His letters are the best I ever saw, 
and had more novelty and wit. One of his 
first pieces of poetry was an answer in English 
verse to an epistle from H. W.* At Naples he 
wrote a fragment, describing an earthquake, 
and the origin of Monte Nuovo, in the style of 

* This poem I do not know. 



XXX11 MEMOIK OF GRAY. 

Virgil ; # at Eome an Alcaic ode, in imitation 
of Horace, to It. West, Esq.t After his return 
he wrote the inimitable ode, On a Distant 
Prospect of Eton College ; another moral ode ; 
and that beautiful one on a cat of Mr. Wal- 
pole's drowned in a tub of gold fishes. These 
three last have been published in Dodsley's 
Miscellanies. He began a poem on the re- 
formation of learning, but soon dropped it, on 
finding his plan too much resembling the 
Dunciad. J It had this admirable line in it : 

' And gospel-light first flashed from Bullen's eyes.' 

He began, too, a philosophical poem in Latin, § 
and an English tragedy of Agrippina, a,nd 
some other odes, one of which, a very beautiful 
one, entitled, ' Stanzas written in a Country 
Churchyard,' he finished in 1750. He was a 
very slow, but very correct writer. Being at 

* Fragment of a poem on the Gaurus. Se*e Works, 
i. 192. 

f Carmen ad Favonium Zephyrinum, p. 189. 

\ Walpole seems to have confounded the Hymn to Ig- 
norance (see Works, i. 140) with the Alliance of Education 
and Government (p. 143), and he has substituted flashed for 
dawned. 

§ The poem De Principiis Cogitandi. See Works, i. 204. 



MEMOIR OF OKAY. XXX111 

Stoke in the summer of 1750, he wrote a kind 
of tale, addressed to Lady Schaub and Miss 
Speed, who had made him a visit at Lady Cob- 
ham's.* The Elegy written in the Churchyard 
was published by Dodsley Eeb. 16, 1751, with 
a short advertisement by Mr. H. W., and im- 
mediately went through four editions. He had 
some thoughts of taking his Doctor's degree, 
but would not, for fear of being confounded 
with Dr. Grey, who published the foolish 
edition of Hudibras. 

" In March, 1753, was published a fine edition 
of his poems, with frontispieces, head and tail 
pieces, and initial letters, engraved by Grignion 
and Muller, after drawings of Richard Bentley, 
Esq. He lost his mother a little before this,t 
and at the same time finished an extreme fine 
poem, in imitation of Pindar, On the Power of 
Musical Poetry, which he began two or three 
years before. J In the winter of 1755, George 
Hervey, Earl of Bristol, who was soon afterwards 
sent Envoy to Turin, was designed for Minister 
to Lisbon : he offered to carry Mr. Gray as his 

* The Long Story. See Works, I. 111. 
f His mother died March 11, 1753. 
J The Progress of Poesy. See Works, i. 22. 
C 



XXXIV MEMOIR OP GRAY. 

secretary, but he declined it. In August, 1757, 
was published two odes of Mr. Gray ; one, On 
the Power and Progress of Poesy, the other, 
On the Destruction of the Welsh Bards by 
Edward I. They were printed at the new press 
at Strawberry Hill, being the first production 
of that printing-house. In October, 1761, he 
made words for an old tune of Geniiniani, at the 
request of Mrs. Speed. * It begins, 

' Thyrsis, when we. parted, swore.' 

Two stanzas ..... the thought from the 
French." 



* Song. See Works, i. 157. 



CONTENTS. 



Gray to James West, Esq., May 8, 1736 

Gray to Dr. Wharton, March 12, 1740 

Gray to Mason, July 24, 1753 

Gray to Mason, Sept. 21, 1753 

Mason to Gray, Sept. 23, 1753 

Gray to Mason, Sept. 26, 1753 

Gray to Mason, Nov. 5, 1753 

Mason to Gray, March 1, 1755 

Mason to Gray, June 27, 1755 

Mason to Gray, Sept. 10, 1755 

Mason to Gray, Nov. 26, 1755 

Mason to Gray, Dec. 25, 1755 

Gray to Mason, 1756 

Gray to Mason, July 25, 1756 

Gray to Mason, July 30, 1756 

Gray to Mason, Dec. 19, 1756 

Gray to Mason, April 23, 1757 

Gray to Mason, May — , 1 757 

Gray to Mason, June 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, July 25, 1757 

Gray to Mason, August 1 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, August 14, 1757 

Gray to Mr. Hurd, August 25, 1757 

Gray to Mason 

Gray to Mason, Sept. 28, 1757 

Gray to Mason, Oct. 13, 1757 

Gray to Mason, Dec. 19, 1757 

Gray to Mason, Jan. 3, 1758 

Mason to Gray, Jan. 5, 1758 

Gray to Mason, Jan. 13, 1758 

Mason to Gray, Jan. 16, 1758 

Gray to Mason, Jan. — , 1758 

Mason to Gray, Jan. 22, 1758 

c2 



XXXVI 



CONTENTS. 



Gray to Mason, Good Friday, 1758 . 

Gray to Mason, June 20, 1758 

Gray to Mason, August 11, 1758 

Gray to the Rev. Mr. Browne, Sept.- 7, 1758 

Gray to the Rev. Mr. Browne, Oct. 28, 1758 

Gray to Mason, Nov. 9, 1758 

Mason to Gray, 1758 

Gray to Mason, Jan. 18, 1759 

Mason to Gray, Jan. 25, 1759 

Gray to Mason, March 1, 1759 

Gray to Mason, April 10, 1759 

Gray to Mason, July 23, 1759 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Aug. 8, 1759 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Aug. 9, 1759 

Gray to Mason, Oct. 6, 1759 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, 1759 

Gray to Mason, Dec. 1, 1759 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, April, 176*0 

Gray to Mason, June 7, 1760 

Gray to Mason, June 27, 1760 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, July, 1760 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, August, 1760 

Gray to Mason, Aug. 7, 1760 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Oct. 23, 1760 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Oct. 25, 1760 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Nov. 8, 1760 

Mason to Gray, Nov. 28, 1760 

Gray to Mason, Dec. 10, 1760 

Mason to Gray, Jan. 8, 1761 

Gray to Mason, Jan. 22, 1761 

Gray to Mason, Feb. 5, 1761 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Feb. 9, 1761 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, May 26, 1761 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, 1761 

Mason to Gray, July 20, 1761 

Gray to Mason, August, 1761 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Sept. 21, 1761 

Gray to Mason, Oct. 1761 

(hay to the Rev. James Brown, Nov. 1761 



CONTENTS. 



Gray to Mason, Dec. S, 1761 

Gray to Mason, Jan. 11, 1762 

Gray to Mason, March 17, 1762 

Gray to Mason, 1762 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, July 19, 1762 

Gray to Mason, Dec. 21, 1762 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Jan. 15, 1763 

Gray to Mason, Feb. 8, 1763 

Gray to Mason, March 6, 1763 

Mason to Gray, June 28, 1763 

Gray to Mason, 1763 

Gray to Mason, 1764 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Oct. 13, 1764 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, 1764 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, October 25, 1764 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Oct. 29, 1764 

Gray to Mason, May 23, 1765 

Gray to Mason, July 16, 1765 

Mason to Gray, July 22, 1765 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Aug. 1765 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, 1765 

Gray to Mason, 1765 

Gray to Mason, 1765 

Gray to Mason 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, May 15, 1766 

Gray to Mason, Oct. 5, 1766 

Gray to Mason, Oct. 9, 1766 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Oct. 23, 1766 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, Nov. 18, 1766 

Gray to Mason, Jan. 27, 1767 

Mason to Gray, Feb. 2, 1767 

Gray to Mason, Feb. 15, 1767 

Gray to Mason, March 28, 1767 . 

Mason to Gray, April 1, 1767 

Gray to Mason, May 23, 1767 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, June 2, 1767 

Gray to the Rev. James Brown, June 6, 1767 

Gray to Mason, June 6, 1767 

Gray to Mason, July 10, 1767 



XXXV11 

PAGE 



LETTERS 



OF 



THE POET GRAY. 



LETTER I. 

TO JAMES WEST, ESQ. 
MY DEAR WEST, Cantabr. May 8, 1736. 

My letter enjoys itself before it is opened, 
in imagining the confusion yon will be in when 
yon hear that a coach and six is just stopped at 
Christ Church gates, and desires to speak with 
you, with a huddle of things in it, as different 
as ever met together in Noah's Ark ; a fat one 
and a lean one, and one that can say a little 
with his mouth and a great deal with his pen, 
and one that can neither speak nor write. But 
you will see them ; joy be with you ! I hope 
too I shall shortly see you, at least in congratu- 
latione Oxoniensi. 

B 



LETTERS OE 

My dear West, I more than ever regret yon : 
it wonld be the greatest of pleasnre to me to 
know what yon do, what yon read, how yon 
spend yonr time, &c, and to tell yon what I 
do not do, not read, and how I do not, for 
almost all the employment of my honrs may 
be best explained by negatives. Take my word 
and experience npon it, doing nothing is a most 
amnsing business, and yet neither something 
nor nothing give me any pleasnre. For this 
little while last past I have been playing with 
Statins ; we yesterday had a game at qnoits 
together. Yon will easily forgive me for having 
broke his head, as yon have a little piqne to 
him. 

E lib. 6 t0 Thebaidos, vs. 646—688. 

Then thus the King : — Adrastus. 

Whoe'er the quoit can wield, 
And furthest send its weight athwart the field, 
Let him stand forth his brawny arm to boast. 
Swift at the word, from out the gazing host, 
Young Pterelas with strength unequal drew, 
Labouring, the disc, and to small distance threw. 
The band around admire the mighty mass, 
A slipp'ry weight, and form'd of polish'd brass. 
The love of .honour bade two youths advance, 
Achaians born, to try the glorious chance; 
A third arose, of Acarnania he, 
Of Pisa one, and three from Ephyre ; 



THE POET GRAY. 6 

Nor more, for now Nesimachus's son, — (Hippomedon,) 
By acclamations roused, came tow'ring on. 
Another orb upheaved his strong right hand, 
Then thus: " Ye Argive flower, ye warlike band, 
Who trust your arms shall rase the Tyrian towers, 
And batter Cadmus' walls with stony showers, 
Receive a worthier load ; yon puny ball 
Let youngsters toss :" — 

He said, and scornful flung th' unheeded weight 
Aloof ; the champions, trembling at the sight, 
Prevent disgrace, the palm despair'd resign; \ 

All but two youths th' enormous orb decline, 
These conscious shame withheld, and pride of noble line. J 
As bright and huge the spacious circle lay, 
With double light it beam'd against the day : 
So glittering shows the Thracian Godhead's shield, 
With such a gleam affrights Pangsea's field, 
When blazing 'gainst the sun it shines from far, ' 
And, clash'd, rebellows with the din of war. 
Phlegyas the long-expected play began, 
Summon'd his strength, and call'd forth all the man. 
All eyes were bent on his experienced hand, 
For oft in Pisa's sports, his native land 
Admired that arm, oft on Alpheus' shore 
The pond'rous brass in exercise he bore ; 
Where flow'd the widest stream he took his stand ; \ 

Sure flew the disc from his unerring hand, 
Nor stopp'd till it had cut the further strand. j 

And now in dust the polish'd ball he roll'd, 
Then grasp'd its weight, elusive of his hold ; 
Now fitting to his gripe and nervous arm, 
Suspends the crowd with expectation' warm ; 
B 2 



4 LETTERS OE 

Nor tempts he yet the plain, but hurl'd upright, 
Emits the mass, a prelude of his might ; 
Eirmly he plants each knee, and o'er his head, 
Collecting all his force, the circle sped ; 
It towers to cut the clouds ; now through the skies 
Sings in its rapid way, and strengthens as it flies ; 
Anon, with slacken'd rage comes quiv'ring down, 
Heavy and huge, and cleaves the solid ground. 

So from th' astonish'd stars, her nightly train, 
The sun's pale sister, drawn by magic strain, 
Deserts precipitant her darken'd sphere : 
In vain the nations with officious fear 
Their cymbals toss, and sounding brass explore; 
Th' ^Emonian hag enjoys her dreadful hour, 
And smiles malignant on the labouring power. 

I will not plague yon too much, and so break 
the affair in the middle, and give you leave to 
resume your Aristotle instead of 

Your friend and servant, 

T. Gray.* 

* This letter may be compared by the reader with the one 
given under the same date (May 8, 1736) by Mason, from 
which it widely differs. The specimen of the translation 
from Statius here printed, precedes that which appeared in 
Mason, vol. ii. p. 12. The whole consisted of about 110 lines. 
Mason believes it was Gray's first attempt in English verse, 
and says that he had imbibed much of Dryden's spirited 
manner. This translation was written at the age of twenty. 
See for the other portion, Gray's Works, ed. Aid. vol. i. p. 126. 



THE POET GRAY. 5 

LETTER II. 
TO DR. WHARTON.* 

Florence, March 12, 1740. 

My dear, dear Wharton, 

(Which is a dear more than I give any body 
else. It is very odd to begin with a paren- 
thesis, hut) you may think me a beast, for not 
having sooner wrote f to you, and to be sure a 
beast I am; now, when one owns it, I do not see 
what you have left to say. I take this oppor- 
tunity to inform you (an opportunity I have 
had every week this twelvemonth) that I ar- 
rived safe at Calais, and am at present at Flp- 

* Thomas Wharton, M.D. of Old Park, near Durham, 
who died in 1794, aged 77. With this gentleman Mr. Gray 
contracted an acquaintance very early, and, though they 
were not educated together at Eton, yet afterwards at Cam- 
bridge, when the Doctor was Fellow of Pembroke Hall, they 
became intimate friends, and continued so to the time of 
Mr. Gray's death. Dr. Wharton was a physician, and Richard 
Wharton, Esq. one of the Secretaries of the Treasury, and 
M.P. for Durham in 1802 and 1806, 1807, and 1812, Chair- 
man of the Ways and Means, also author of Fables from 
Dante, Berni, and Ariosto, imitated in English Verse, 1804, 
8vo. was his second son, in whose possession Gray's Corres- 
pondence with his father remained, or at least by whose per- 
mission it was printed in 1816, 

| " Wrote," so the MS. Mason has " written:' 



6 LETTERS OE 

rence, a city in Italy in I do not know how 
many degrees north latitude. Under the Line 
I am sure it is not, for I am at this instant 
expiring with cold. 

You must know, that, not being certain 
what circumstances of my history would par- 
ticularly suit your curiosity, and knowing that 
all I had to say to you would overflow the 
narrow limits of many a good quire of paper, 
I have taken this method of laying before 
you the contents, that you may pitch upon 
what you please, and give me your orders 
accordingly to expatiate thereupon ; for I con- 
clude you will write to me, won't you ? oh yes, 
when you know, that in a week I set out for 
Rome, and that the Pope is dead,* and that I 
shall be (I should say, God willing), if nothing 
extraordinary intervene, and if I am alive and 
well, and in all human probability, at the coro- 
nation of a new one. Now, as you have no 
other correspondent there, and as, if you do 
not, I certainly shall not write again (observe 
my impudence), I take it to be your interest to 
send me a vast letter full of all sorts of news and 
politics, and such other ingredients as to you 
shall seem convenient, with all decent expedi- 
tion. Only do not be too severe upon the Pre- 

* Clement XII. died on the 6th February 1740. 



THE POET GRAY. 7 

tender ; and, if yon like my style, pray say so ; 
— this is a la Frangoise, and if yon think it a 
little too foolish and impertinent, yon shall be 
treated alia Toscana, with a thousand Signoria 
Ulustrissima's : in the mean time I have the 
honour to remain, 

Your lofing frind tell deth, 

T. G. 

Proposals for printing by subscription, in 

THIS LARGE LETTER * 

The Travels of T. G. Gentleman, which will 
consist of all the following particulars : — 

Chap. 1. — The author arrives at Dover ; his 
conversation with the mayor of that corpora- 
tion ; sets out in the pacquet boat ; grows very 
sick; with a very minute account of all the 
circumstances thereof ; his arrival at Calais ; 
how the inhabitants of that country speak 
Prench, and are said to be all Papishes ; the 
author's reflections thereupon. 

Chap. 2. — How they feed him with soupe, and 
what soupe is ; how he meets with a Capucin, 
and what a Capucin is ; how they shut him up 

* The MS. from which this is given differs in a few unim- 
portant particulars from that which is in the Aldine edition 
of Gray's Letters, vol. ii. p. 83. 



8 LETTERS OE 

in a postchaise and send him to Paris ; he goes 
wondering along during six days, and how there 
are trees and houses just as in England ; arrives 
at Paris without knowing it. 

Chap. 3. — A full account of the river Seine, 
and of the various animals and plants its 
borders produce ; a description of the little 
creature called an Abbe, its parts and their 
uses, with the reasons why they will not live 
in England, and the methods that have been 
used to propagate them there; a cut of the 
inside of a nunnery ; its structure wonderfully 
adapted to the use of the animals that inhabit 
it ; a short account of them, how they propagate 
without the help of a male, and how they eat 
up their own young ones, like cats and rabbits ; 
supposed to have both sexes in themselves, like 
a snail ; the dissection of a duchess, with some 
copper plates, very curious. 

Chap. 4. — Goes to the Opera, grand orchestra 
of humstrums, bagpipes, salt-boxes, tabors, and 
pipes ; the anatomy of a Erench ear, showing 
the formation of it to be entirely different from 
that of an English one, and that sounds have a 
directly contrary effect upon one and the other. 
Earinelli at Paris said to have a fine manner, 
but no voice; a grand ballet, in which there 
is no seeing the dance for petticoats, old women 



THE POET GRAY. 9 

with flowers and jewels stuck in the curls of 
their grey hair, red-heeled shoes, and roll-ups 
innumerable, hoops and panniers immeasurable, 
paint unspeakable; tables, wherein is calcu- 
lated with the utmost exactness the several 
degrees of red now in use, from the rising blush 
of an advocate's wife to the flaming crimson of 
a princess of the blood, done by a limner in 
great vogue. 

Chap. 5. — The author takes unto him a tailor ; 
his character ; how he covers him with silk and 
fringe, and widens his figure with buckram 
a yard on each side ; waistcoat and breeches so 
straight he can neither breathe nor walk ; how 
the barber curls him en beqitille and a la neg- 
ligee, and ties a vast solitaire about his neck ; 
how the milliner lengthens his ruffles to his 
fingers' ends, and sticks his two arms into a 
muff; how he cannot stir, and how they cut 
him in proportion to his clothes. 

Chap. 6. — He is carried to Versailles ; despises 
it infinitely ; a dissertation upon taste ; goes to 
an installation in the chapelle royale. Enter the 
king and fifty fiddlers solus. Kettle drums and 
trumpets, queens and dauphins, princesses and 
cardinals, incense and the mass, old knights 
making curtsies, holy ghosts and fiery tongues. 

Chap. 7. — The author goes into the country 



10 LETTERS OF 

to Hheims in Champaign; stays there three 
months; what he did there (he mnst beg the 
reader's pardon, hut) has really forgot. 

Chap. 8. — Proceeds to Lyons ; the vastness 
of that city (cannot see the streets for houses),* 
how rich it is, and how much it stinks. A poem 
upon the confluence of the Rhone and the Saone, 
by a friend of the author's, very pretty. 

Chap. 9. — Makes a journey into Savoy, and 
in his way visits the Grande Chartreuse ; he is 
set astride upon a mule's hack, and begins to 
climb up the mountain, rocks and torrents 
beneath, pine-trees and snows above ; horrors 
and terrors on all sides. The author dies of the 
fright. 

Chap. 10. — He goes to Geneva; his mortal 

* Mons. le Due de M. disoit, que les maisons de Paris 
etoient si hautes, qu'elles empechoient de voir la ville. Mena- 
giana, vol. i. p. 13. " One feels like the countryman, who 
complained ' that the houses hindered him from seeing Paris.' " 
See Walpole's Fugitive Pieces, vol. i. p. 222 ; also Bishop 
Hall's Satirized Sizar, p. 72, 

" That sees not Paris for the houses' height." 
See the story to which the above alludes in the Editor's note, 
as given in the Bigarrures du Seigneur des Accords. " Quand 
il (Sieur Gaulord) fut a Paris, passant par les rues il disoit, 
Chascun me disoit que je verrois une si grande et belle ville ; 
mais on se mocquoit bien de moi, car on ne peut pas voir, a 
cause de la multitude des maisons, qui empeschent la vue." 



THE POET GRAY. 11 

antipathy to a presbyterian, and the cure for it ; 
returns to Lyons; gets a surfeit with eating 
ortolans and lampreys ; is advised to go into 
Italy for the benefit of the air. 

Chap. 11. — Sets out the latter end of Novem- 
ber to cross the Alps ; he is devoured by a wolf, 
and how it is to be devoured by a wolf. The 
seventh day he comes to the foot of Mount 
Cenis. How he is wrapped up in bearskins 
and beaverskins, boots on his legs, caps on his 
head, muffs on his hands, and taffety over his 
eyes ; he is placed on a bier, and is carried to 
heaven by the savages blindfold. How he lights 
amongst a certain fat nation called Clouds ; how 
they are always in a sweat, and never speak, but 
they — - — ; how they flock about him, and think 
him very odd for not doing so too. He falls 
plump into Italy. 

Chap. 12. — He arrives at Turin, goes to 
Genoa, and from thence to Placentia; crosses 
the river Trebbia ; the ghost of Hannibal ap- 
pears to him ; and what it and he says upon 
the occasion ; locked out of Parma, in a cold 
winter's night; the author by an ingenious 
stratagem gains admittance; despises them and 
that city, and proceeds through Heggio to 
Modena. How the duke and duchess lie over 



12 LETTERS OP 

their own stables, and go every night to a vile 
Italian coinedy ; despises them and it, and 
proceeds to Bologna. 

Chap. 13. — Enters into the dominions of the 
Pope of Rome ; meets the Devil, and what he 
says on the occasion. Very public and scanda- 
lous doings between the vines and the elm-trees, 
and how the olive-trees are shocked thereupon. 
The author longs for Bologna sausages and 
hams, and how he grows as fat as a hog. 

Chap. 14. — Observations on antiquities. The 
author proves that Bologna was the ancient Ta- 
rentum ; that the battle of Salamis, contrary to 
the vulgar opinion, was fought by land, and not 
far from Ravenna ; that the Romans were a 
colony of the Jews, and that Eneas was the 
same with Lhud. 

Chap. 15. — His arrival at Elorence ; is of opi- 
nion that the Yenus of Medicis is a modern 
performance, and that a very indifferent one, 
and much inferior to the King Charles at 
Charing Cross. Account of the city, and 
manners of the inhabitants, with a learned dis- 
sertation on the true situation of Gomorrah. 

And here will end the first part of these 
instructive and entertaining voyages ; the sub- 
scribers are to pay twenty guineas, nineteen 



THE POET GRAY. 13 

down, and the remainder upon delivery of the 
book. N. B. — A few are printed on the softest 
royal brown paper, for the use of the curious. 



LETTER III. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR SlR, Durham, July 24, Tuesday, 1753: 

We performed our journey, a very agreeable 
one, within the time appointed, and left out 
scarcely anything worth seeing in or near our 
way. The Doctor and Mrs. Wharton had ex- 
pected us about two hours, when w« arrived at 
Studley on Friday, We passed that night at 
Ripon, and the next at Richmond ; and on 
Sunday evening got to Durham. I cannot now 
enter into the particulars of my travels, be- 
cause I have not yet gathered up my quota- 
tions from the Classics to intersperse, like Mr. 
Addison ; but I hope to be able soon to enter- 
tain you with a dish of very choice erudition. 
I have another reason, too, which is, that the 
post is just setting out. Suffice it to tell you, 
that I have one of the most beautiful vales here 
in England to walk in, with prospects that 
change every ten steps, and open something 



14 LETTERS OF 

new wherever I turn me, all rude and roman- 
tic; in short, the sweetest spot to break your 
neck or drown yourself in that ever was be- 
held. I have done neither yet, but I have 
been twice at the races, once at the assembly, 
have had a visit from Dr. Chapman,* and dined 
with the Bishop, f 

* Prebendary of Durham, and Master of Magdalen College, 
Cambridge, from 1746 to 1760, author of a Dissertation on the 
Roman Senate 1750, praised and translated by Larcher 1765, 
reviewed by Hooke 1750. In December 1751, Gray writes 
to Dr. Wharton, " Oh, by the way, I wish you joy of that 
agreeable creature, who has got one of your prebends of 400Z. 
a year, and will visit you soon with that dry piece of goods 
his wife." He died 1760; see Gray's Letters, ed. Aid. vol. iii. 
pp. 246, 253, 230. In a copy of Hornby's Remarks on Dug- 
dale's Baronage, which belonged to Mr. Cole, he wrote as fol- 
lows : " The marginal notes at pp. 107, 108, are by Dr. Chap- 
man, the conceited and overbearing Master of Magdalen Col- 
lege, Cambridge, who died in the summer of 1760 ;" to which 
Gray's remark may be added as a codicil : " Chapman, you 
see, is dead at last, which signifies not much, I take it, to 
any body." — The very humorous account which Gray gave in 
his letters, referred to above, of the cause of the Doctor's death, 
gave great offence, I have heard, to his family. There is a 
severe character of him given by Bishop Hurd, in a Letter 
to Warburton, No. cxlii. p. 306. He calls him " a vain and 



f Doctor Richard Trevor, translated from St. David's. He 
succeeded Dr. Joseph Butler in 1752. 



THE POET GRAY. 15 

I am very shabby, for Stonhewer' s box, with 
my coat in it, which went by sea, is not yet ar- 
rived. You are desired therefore to send Lee, 
the bedmaker at Peterhouse, to the master of 
the Lynn boats, to inquire what vessel it was 
sent by, and why it does not come. It was 
directed to Dr. Stonhewer, of Houghton, to be 
left with the rector of Sunderland. Another 
trouble I have to give you, which is to order 
Barnes to bring any letter Stonhewer* or I 

busy man, who had not virtue enough to prefer a long and 
valuable friendship to the slightest, nay, almost to no prospect 
of interest, on which account I dropped him," &c. This Dr. 
Thomas Chapman must not be confounded with Dr. John 
Chapman, who lived at the same time, and was author of 
many learned works, as the Translation of Eusebius. A 
ludicrous story is told of him in Walpole's Letters to Lady 
Ossory, vol. ii. p. 10. 

* Mr. Stonhewer, son of Dr. Stonhewer, of Houghton, 
Durham, was Secretary to the Duke of Grafton, in conjunc- 
tion with Mr. Bradshaw. " He was," says Horace Walpole, 
" a modest man, of perfect integrity, invariably attached to 
Lord Grafton from his childhood." See Memoir of George in. 
vol. iv. p. 66. He appears to have taken a high degree in 
1749-50, by the Cambridge Calendar, as late Fellow of 
St. Peter's and after of Trinity College. He held for a con- 
siderable time the post of Commissioner of Excise, and lived 
in Curzon Street, in a house nearly opposite to the Chapel. 
It was through his interest with the Duke of Grafton that 
Gray obtained the Professorship of Modern History. 



16 LETTERS OF 

may have to you, and direct them hither. The 
Doctor and Mrs. Wharton desire their parti- 
cular compliments to you, and are sorry you 
could not be with us. Adieu. I am ever sin- 
cerely yours, T. G 

P f S. — I have left my watch hanging (I be- 
lieve) in my bed-room : will you be so good as 
to ask after it. 



LETTER IV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, Durham, Sept. 21, 1753.* 

It is but a few days since I was informed by 
Avison,f that the alarm you had on your sister's 

* Compare this letter, Sept. 21, with that given in the 
Aldine edition, vol. iii. p. 116, No. xlix. dated Dec. 26, 
1753, beginning " A little while before I received your 
melancholy letter I had been informed by Mr. Charles Avison 
of one of the sad events you mention, &c." It will afford a 
good example of the alterations which Mason may have thought 
it advisable to give to Gray's Correspondence. 

t Mason, in his Essays on Church Music, mentions Mr. 
Avison, the author of the Essay on Musical Expression, as 
Ms friend. See Works, vol. iii. p. 385 and p. 396. He 
adopted an opinion of Mason's on ancient and modern music, 
and published it in his Works. " Mason," says Mr. Boaden, 



THE POET GRAY. 17 

account served but to prepare you for a greater 
loss, which was soon to follow. I know what it 
is to lose a person that one's eyes and heart 
have long been used to, and I never desire to 
part with the remembrance of that loss, nor 
would wish you should. It is something that 
you had a little time to acquaint yourself with 
the idea beforehand, if I am informed right, 
and that he probably suffered but little pain, 
the only thing that makes death terrible. 

It will now no longer be proper for me to see 
you at Hull, as I should otherwise have tried 
to do. I shall go therefore to York, with inten- 
tion to make use of the stage coach, either on 
Friday or Monday. I shall be a week at Cam- 
bridge, and then pass through London into 
Buckinghamshire. If I can be of any use to 
you in any thing it will give me great pleasure. 
Let me have a line from you soon, for I am 
very affectionately yours, 

T. Gray. 

in his Life of Kemble, i. 184, " was not meanly skilled in 
choral and scientific composition." It has been said that Avi- 
son's Essay on Musical Expression was written by Dr. John 
Brown, author of the Estimate, mentioned hereafter at page 
73. See Moore's Irish Melodies, p. 227. 



18 LETTERS OF 

LETTER V. 
THE REY. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

Dear Mr. Gray, Hull, Sept. 23, 1753. 

You have been rightly informed that I have 
lost a most affectionate father. I have felt for 
him all that a heart not naturally hard, and at 
the time already softened by preceding anxiety, 
could feel. But my griefs rest not on him 
alone. Only last Tuesday my most intimate 
friend, Dr. Pricket,* followed him ; a man who, 
I assure you, had more good qualities of the 
heart than the brightness of the head could out- 
balance, either in mine or your estimation. 
We were brought up together from infancy, 
and ever lived in the sincerest affection. In 
my long illness at London he attended me with 
a care and assiduity almost unparalleled. I 
endeavoured to repay that care in my turn ; 
but, alas, his fate did not give me time to dis- 
charge half the debt ; yet what I could I did. 

Oh, Mr. Gray, how dreadful is it to sit beside 
a dying friend ; to see, as I did, reason with- 
draw herself gradually, often return by starts, 

* " Dr. Marmaduke Pricket, a young physician of my own 
age, with whom I was brought up from infancy, also died of the 
same infectious fever." — Mason. See Gray'sWorks, vol. iii. p. 1 1 6 . 



THE POET GRAY. 19 

to a memory every minute less capable of fur- 
nishing her with ideas, and a tongue less able 
to give them utterance. I talk nonsense, I be- 
lieve ; but let me do it — it gives me some relief. 
What makes his loss to me more deplorable is, 
that I am afraid either the physician who con- 
stantly attended him mistook his case, or that 
the other who was called in afterwards hastened 
his end ; for a sudden change ensued the altera- 
tion of his medicines. But I will check myself 
till I see you, and then you must bear with 
me, if I am even a child or a woman in my 
complainings. I must add, however, that in a 
will he made five years ago, his friendship 
bequeathed to me two hundred pounds, which, 
when my debt is discharged to his executor, 
will be reduced to one ; yet the sum will come 
at present as opportunely as anything of the 
kind possibly could, as my father, by the 
strangest disposition of his affairs that can be 
conceived, has left all my paternal estate to my 
mother-in-law for her life, and entailed it so on 
my little sister that I can take up no money 
upon it ; so that without this legacy I should 
not have had a shilling at present. 

I believe I shall be obliged to take a journey 
to Mr. Hutton's,* near Kichniond, and may 

* In December 1756 Archbishop Hutton gave Mason the 

c 2 



20 LETTERS OF 

perhaps be at York next Sunday ; but this is 
so exceedingly uncertain that I only just nanie 
it, but would not have you alter your schemes 
upon it for the sake of a meeting, because my 
mother is at present in a fever, with three 
blisters, but I hope on the recovery ; yet I can- 
not leave her till there appears a greater cer- 
tainty. Tom has been also in a fever, and got 
out only to-day; therefore I do not know whether 
he will be in a condition to travel, and I cannot 
easily relinquish the pomp of travelling with a 
servant all on a sudden ; and my father's ser- 
vant, a lad of the same age, died the week after 
his master, of a fever also. 

Prom all this you may guess what a time I 
have gone through lately; yet I am well myself 
at present, except that my hands tremble, and 
my spirits often, very often sink; yet have they 
supported me hitherto surprisingly. Pray tell 

prebend of Holme, in the cathedral of York. " John Hutton, 
Esq. Marsk, near Richmond, Yorkshire, died June 12, 1768, 
by which death an estate in the East Riding came to me in 
reversion/' — Dates of principal events relating to myself. 
Mason MS. All Mason's landed property was bequeathed 
to Mr. William Dixon, son of his half-sister, Anne Dixon, wife 
of Rev. Henry Dixon, Vicar of Wadworth, Yorkshire. Gray 
says it was considerable. See Letter to Nicholls, Feb. 3, 1768. 
Archbishop Hutton died in March 1718, and was succeeded 
by Seeker. 



THE POET GRAY. 21 

Mr. Brown when you see him, that I fear I 
cannot he up at college by the tenth of October, 
yet I shall get there as soon as ever I can niake 
any end of my perplexed affairs here. I wish 
you had told me how long you would stay in 
Buckinghamshire : I hope it will be short, and 
that we may meet again at Cambridge soon. 
Adieu. My best compliments to Dr. Wharton. 
I am, dear Sir, 

Yours, with sincerity and affection, 

W. Mason. 

Do write to me again very soon. 



LETTER VI. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON.* 
MY DEAR MASON, Durham, Sept. 26, 1753. 

I have just received your letter, and am both 
surprised and angry (if you will suffer me to say 
so) at the weakness of your father ; perhaps I 
ought not to use such words to a person whose 
affliction for him is perhaps heightened by that 
very weakness ; for I know it is possible to feel 

* This Letter should be compared with the one dated Dec. 
26, in Mason's edition of Gray, Letter xvm. which is the 
foundation of the present. 



22 LETTERS OF 

an additional sorrow for the faults of those we 
have loved, even where that fault has heen 
greatly injurious to ourselves. This is certain, 
he has been (whether from his illness or some 
other cause) at least guilty of a great weakness ; 
and it is as sure that there must have been a 
great fault somewhere, probably in the person 
who took advantage of his weakness, upon whom 
your care and kindness is very ill bestowed, 
though you do not at present show any resent- 
ment, nor perhaps ever will. At least let me 
desire you not to expose yourself to any fur- 
ther danger in the midst of that scene of sick- 
ness and death, but withdraw as soon as pos- 
sible to some place at a little distance in the 
country, for I do not at all like the place you 
are in. 

I do not attempt to console you on the situa- 
tion your fortune is left in ; if it were far worse, 
the good opinion I have of you tells me you 
will never the sooner do any thing mean or 
unworthy of yourself, and consequently I can- 
not pity you on this account, but I sincerely do 
so on the new loss you have had of a good and 
friendly man, whose memory I honour. May 
I remind you how like a simpleton I used to 
talk about him ? It is foolish to mention it ; 
but it feels I do not know how like a sort of 



THE POET GRAY. 23 

guilt in me, though I believe you know I could 
not mean any thing by it. I have seen what 
you describe, and know how dreadful it is ; I 
know too I am the better for it. We are all 
idle and thoughtless things, and have no sense, 
no use in the world any longer than that sad 
impression lasts ; the deeper it is engraved the 
better. I am forced to break off by the post. 
Adieu, my dear Sir. 

I am ever yours, T. Gr. 

P. S. I shall be at York on Sunday, at the 
place the stagecoach goes from, having a place 
taken for Monday. Pray remember James's 
powder ; I have great faith in its efficacy ; I 
should take it myself. Here is a malignant 
fever in the town. 



LETTER VII. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

MY DEAR MASON, Stoke, Nov. 5, 1753. 

I am not in a way of leaving this place yet this 
fortnight, and consequently shall hardly see you 
in town. I rejoice in the mean time to think that 
you are there, and have left, I hope, a part of 



24 LETTERS OF 

your disagreeable reflections in the place where 
they grew.* 

Stoke has revived in me the memory of many 
a melancholy hour that I have passed in it, 
and, though I have no longer the same cause 
for anxiety, I do not find myself at all the hap- 
pier for thinking that I have lost it, as my 
thoughts now signify nothing to any one but 
myself. I shall wish to change the scene as 
soon as ever I can. 

I am heartily glad to hear Mr. Hutton is so 
reasonable, but am rather sorry to find that de- 
sign is known to so many. Dr. Wharton, who, 
I suppose, heard it from Avison, mentions it in 
a letter to me. Were I you, I should have taken 
some pleasure in observing people's faces, and 
perhaps in putting their kindness a little to the 
trial ; it is a very useful experiment, and very 

* Gray had hastened to Stoke on being informed that Mrs. 
.Rogers, his aunt, had had a stroke of the palsy. See Letter 
XLvn. to Dr. Wharton, Oct. 18, 1753, ed. Aid. vol. iii. p. 
111. His mother, to whom he was affectionately attached, died 
in March 1753. The inscription which Gray wrote on his 
mother's tomb may be seen in his Life and Works, vol. i. 
p. xxxi. Sir James Mackintosh used to speak with high 
praise of the expression in it, " the careful, tender mother of 
many children." It occurs, however, in an older writer, 
" These were tender nurses, careful mothers." See Braithwaite's 
English Gentlewoman, 4to. p. 100. 1633. 



THE POET GRAY. 25 

possibly you will never have it in your power 
to put it in practice again. Pray make your bar- 
gain with all the circumspection and selfishness 
of an old hunks ; when you are grown as rich 
as Croesus, do not grow too good-for-nothing, 
— a little good-for-nothing to be sure you will 
grow ; every body does so in proportion to their 
circumstances, else, indeed, what should we do 
with one's money? My third sentence is, do not 
anticipate your revenues, and live upon air till 
you know what you are worth. You bid me 
write no more than a scrawl to you, therefore 
I will trouble you, as you are so busy, with no- 
thing more. Adieu. 

I am very sincerely and affectionately yours, 

T. G. 

I should be obliged to you, if you had time, 
to ask at Roberts's,* or some place in Jermyn 
Street, whether I could be there about a fort- 
night hence. I will not give more than half- 
a-guinea a week, nor put up with a second floor 
unless it has a tolerable room to the street. 
Will you acquaint me of this ? 

* When Gray came to London he lodged in Jerinyn-street , 
at Eoberts's the hosier's, or at Frisby's the oilman's. The_y are 
towards the east end, on different sides of the street. — Norton 
.Nicholls. 



26 LETTERS OF 

LETTER VIII. 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 
DEAR SlR, Arlington Street, March 1, 1755. 

I am gathering together my disjecta membra, 
and as a specimen I send yon the inclosed Ode, 
of which, perhaps, you may remember one 
stanza. It is not what I can make it at present, 
but I will not give myself any more trouble 
with it till it has had yonr desperate hooks;* bnt 
spare it as much as you can, for I do not mean 
to draw you into any scrape by the conclusion 
of it, but shall leave you quite at your liberty 
to write my epitaph or no, as you please. As 
soon as you have interlined it, send it me 
back again, and do not let any body see it ex- 
cept the President f . . . . and old Cardale, $ 

* " Not that I'd lop the beauties from his book, 
Like slashing Bentley with his desperate hook." 

Pope's Imitation of Horace, book ii. i. 
t Dr. Roger Long was Master of Pembroke College, Mr. 
Brown President, and Cardale a Fellow. There is a Life of 
Dr. Long in Nichols's edition of J. Taylor's Tracts, p. liv.-lviii. 
See also Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. i. pp. 94, 639 ; iv. 
p. 683; ix. p. 643; and Literary Illustrations, vol. i. p. 134. 
He was Professor of Astronomy and Geometry from 1749 to 
1771, and author of a treatise on Astronomy. 

\ " His college, which had much declined for some time, is 
picking up again ; they have had twelve admissions this year, 



THE POET GRAY. 27 

and the Master ; Marcello* has set out from 
Newcastle, and is travelling hither as fast as a 
Northumberland waggon can bring him : you 
must not expect him at Cambridge this fort- 
night. Pray, is the Thane of Grlamist come? I 
wish I could put that good creature Eraser ;£ 
up in his own frank, to transcribe your Ode for 
me, for I want it vastly. 

I have no news yet about Hanover. My Lord§ 

and are just filling up two fellowships with a Mr. Car dell y 
whom I do not know, but they say he is a good scholar, 
and a Mr. Delaval, a fellow-commoner (a younger son to old 
Delaval, of Northumberland), who has taken a degree in an 
exemplary manner, and is very sensible and knowing." See 
Gray's Works (Letter to Dr. Wharton), vol. iii. p. 78. I pre- 
sume that it is not of this Mr. Delaval that a ludicrous story 
is told by Gray as happening to him at the college, for this was 
in 1746. See Notes, vol. iii. p. 28. 

* Edward Delaval, of Pembroke College. 

f Lord Strathmore. The title of Strathmore takes with it 
that of the Thane. He entered at Pembroke College. See on 
him Walpole's Letters to Mason, vol. i, p. 154; Gray's Letters, 
vol. iii. p. 130; Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. viii. p. 388; 
Literary Illustrations, vol. vi. p. 602. 

| William Fraser, Esq, held a situation in Lord Holder- 
nesse's office. 

§ Robert D'Arcy, fourth Earl of Holdernesse, to whom 
Mason was appointed chaplain in 1754, at this time was 
Secretary of State. He died in 1778, when the earldom 
became extinct; his only daughter married the Duke of Leeds. 
For Lord Holdernesse's character see Waldegrave's Memoirs, 



28 LETTERS OF 

did speak to Lord Hertford* to make me chap- 
lain to his embassy, but he was pre-engaged : 
tell this to nobody but old Cardale and the 
master. 

I send you also an epistle which folks say 
Voltaire t wrote lately to himself, but you must 

p. 123; and Walpole's Memoirs of George II. vol. i. p. 198; 
vol. iii. pp. 27, 34, 341 ; Geo. III. vol. i, p. 42, and note of 
the Editor ; and frequent notices of him are to be found in 
Walpole's Miscellaneous Letters ; those in vol. i. are in 
pages 91, 100, 250, 271, 342; vol. iv. pp. 31, 34. 

* The Earl of Hertford, a man of most unblemished 
morals, but rather too gentle and courteous to combat so pre- 
sumptuous a court, was sent Ambassador to Paris, whither, 
Mons. de Mirepoix was desired to write, " that if they 
meaned well, we would send a man of the first character 
and quality." See Walpole's Mem. of George II. vol. ii. p. 2. 
Lord Hertford's going was suspended. — Ibid. See Grenville 
Papers, vol. ii. p. 514. " The King sometimes observes to 
Mr. Grenville, that there are not among his servants too 
many people of decent or orderly character ; that Lord Hert- 
ford is respectable in that light, and therefore not lightly to be 
cast aside." See also Walpole's Misc. Lett. vol. iii. p. 105; vol. 
iv. p. 303. 

t Is there any epistle answering to this title among Vol- 
taire's Poems? Is it the Epitre lxxvi. vol. -13, dated this 
year, 1755 ? " L'auteur arrivait dans sa terre. ' O maison 
d'Aristippe, O jardin d'Epicure,' " &c. This was translated 
under the title of An Epistle of M. de Voltaire upon his 
arrival at his estate near the Lake of Geneva, March 1755. 
— Monthly Review, 1755, vol. ii. p. 285. Mason says he does 



THE POET GRAY. 29 

judge whether they are right in their assertion ; 
you must return it in a post or two. I am, as 
you must say, if you have any gratitude in you, 
Your very obliging friend, 

W. Mason. 

I am disappointed of Voltaire's verses, but 
you shall have them very soon. 



LETTER IX. 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 
DEAR SiR, Hanover, June 27, 1755. 

Amongst the variety of rational entertain- 
ments that travel affords to a thinking mind, I 
have always ranked with the principal that 
fund which it presents of new ideas peculiarly 
proper to be thrown upon paper, in order to 
form that which we call a free epistolary cor- 
respondence. An easy communication of senti- 
ments neither obscured by a cloud of reserve, 

not recollect the title of the poem, but it was a small one, which 
Voltaire wrote when he first settled at Ferney. Gray says, 
" There are parts in it that are excellent, and everywhere above 
mediocrity." — Works, vol. iii. p 141. 



30 LETTERS OF 

which is always disagreeable to an amicable 
reader, nor embarrassed by a burthen of terms 
recherche, which is always fully as unpleasing 
to a negligent writer, — is the very thing which 
I should always labour to attain in my produc- 
tions of this kind, though perhaps my aim is 
totally chimerical, as the style I speak of may 
be called with the poet 

" A faultless monster, which the world ne'er saw." 

Therefore, without further apology, I shall trust 
to the sincerity of your friendship for a plenary 
absolution in this case, and proceed in all the 
simplicity of narration. 

Germany is a country— but why should I 
tell my friend who has seen France, who has 
seen Italy, what kind of a country is Germany? 
and yet perhaps he will not despise me for it ; 
for though France is remarkable for its savoir 
vivre and Italy for its virtu, yet Germany is the 
reservoir of solid literature, and therefore not 
unworthy of the attention of a person who 
unites all these qualifications in his own par- 
ticular, and may be called without flattery a 
microcosm of the talents both of his own island 
and the continent ; but hard, very hard, is my 
fate, that I cannot give him any satisfactory 
account of the state of the Germanic learning, 



THE POET GRAY. 31 

having only as yet had a single interview with 

Myn Herr , the royal librarian of this 

place. Mynn Herr is of a roundish, squab 

figure, and of a face corresponding, that is, as 
his body is cylindrical, his face is rather circular 
than oval ; he apparels himself generally in a 
decent grass-green suit, with a fair full peruke, 
not too full to break upon the spherical form of 
his cheeks, and yet full enough to add a grace- 
ful squareness on each side of them ; the alti- 
tude of his square-toed shoe heels, the breadth 
of his milk-and-watered rollups, and the size of 
his amber-headed cane, are all truly symbolical, 
not only of his own genius, but of that of all 
his compatriots. When I say that Myn Herr 

— is the only erudite person whom I have 

yet seen, I must be understood to mean in this 
place ; for when I lately made a tour to Ham- 
burg I met with another, though of a different 
sex, her name Madam Belcht, her person I 
will not attempt to describe, but will endeavour 
to give you a morceau of her conversation, for 
I was honoured with it. She asked me who was 
the famous poet that writ the " Mtt Toats ;" I 
replied Doctor Young. She begged leave to 
drink his health in a glass of sweet wine, adding 
that he was her favourite English author. We 
toasted the Doctor, upon which, having a mind 



32 LETTERS OF 

to give my Parnassian toast, I asked Madame 
Belclit if she had ever read La petite JElegie 
dans la Cimetiere Hustique?* C'est beaucoup 
jolie, je vous assure, — for I had said fort jolie 
very often before. Qui, Monsieur, replied 
Madame Belcht, je Vai lu, et elle est Men jolie 
et melaneolique. Mais elle ne touehe point le 
coeur, comme mes tres cheres Witt Toats. 

The prudence you recommend to me at part- 
ing, and which you yourself are so remarkable 
for, I shall strictly observe, and therefore will 
say nothing of the place I am in. Indeed, I have 
nothing to say, if I was not prudent, only that 
it is the noisiest place I ever was in, and that I 
want to get out of it, which I hope is- no treason. 
I have sent Lord John Cavendish f a list of the 

* Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard. 
t Fourth son of William third Duke of Devonshire. Mason 
was his tutor at Cambridge. To him, the Elegy beginning 

" E'er yet, ingenuous youth, thy steps retire," 

was addressed. During the Rockingham administration, in 
1760, he was a Lord of the Treasury; in March 1762 he was 
appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer; and he died in 1796. 
See Cavendish Debates, ii. p. 17; Rockingham Papers, i. 225, 
ii. 511; Walpole's Misc. Letters, v. 29, 207; Memoirs of 
George III. vol. ii. pp. 24, 128, 136; iii. p. 93;iv. p. 129; and 
Collins's Peerage, vol. i. p. 318. He was the warm friend of 
Lord Rockingham, under whose second administration he 



THE POET GRAY. 33 

noises and their times of beginning, which will 
give you some idea, if he shews you the letter. 

Oh, Mr, Gray ! I bought at Hamburg such 
a pianoforte, and so cheap ! It is a harpsichord 
too of two unisons, and the jacks serve as 
mutes when the pianoforte stop is played, by 
the cleverest mechanism imaginable, — won't 
you buy my Kirkman ? 

Pray, Mr. Gray, write soon (how strangely is 
my style changed since the beginning !) and tell 
me about Rousseau, or any thing : it is great 
charity I do assure you. I would have written 
to you before, but Hamburg and Reviews pre- 
vented me. Whitehead* is here with his lord- 
lings; you would delight in Lord Nuneham, f he 
is so peevish, and hates things so much, and has 

filled the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. His fair little 
person, and the quaintness with which he untreasured, as by 
rote, the stores of his memory, occasioned George Selwyn to 
call him " the learned canarybird." 

* William Whitehead went abroad as travelling tutor to 
George Simon Harcourt, Viscount Nuneham — son of the first 
Earl of Harcourt, who was Governor to George III. when 
Prince of Wales, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1772, and died 
in 1777 — and George Bussey, Lord Villiers, eldest son of the 
Earl of Jersey. 

f Lord Nuneham succeeded to the earldom of Harcourt. He 
was the intimate friend of Mason and Whitehead, The entire 
correspondence between Mason and Lord Nuneham has been 

D 



34 LETTERS OF 

so much sense ; Lord Villiers # is Pluiner ex- 
ceedingly polished. Whitehead talks rather too 
much of Princesses of the Blood, in a way be- 
tween jest and earnest, that most people must 
mistake and take for admiration. The rest of 
the English are, Earl of Peterhouse, Sutton, and 
just now Bagnal of Trinity, with grooms, dogs, 
tutors, and all. Whit worth is also soon expected; 
so that I think we shall soon have a pretty party 
enough. O, the deuce take that confounded 
drum and fife ! it plagues me past endurance ; I 
cannot write a word more. Adieu, and believe 
me yours with the greatest sincerity, 

W. Mason. 

preserved, and shows him to have been a person of talent and 
accomplishment. See on him Gray's Letters, vol. iii. lxv. p. 159 ; 
Walpole's Misc. Lett. iv. p. 377; Memoirs of George II. ii. 
p. 59; Letters to Mason, vol. i. p. 50; and p. 310, " He is all 
good nature, and deserved a fonder father." 

* George Bussey, afterwards fourth Earl of Jersey, born 
1735, succeeded to the peerage Aug. 28, 1769, (vide Walpole's 
Memoirs of George III. vol. ii. p. 58, note,) died in 1809, 
aged 63. — See Lord Mahon's History, vol. v. p. 90; Kock- 
ingham Papers, i. p. 159; Life of Lord Keppel, i. p. 392. 
General Keppel proposes to his brother, in anticipation of the 
Bedfords and Kockinghams coming into office in 1767, to 
make examples of the Onslows, Townshends, Shelleys, not for- 
getting the little Lord Villiers. See also Selwyn Correspond- 
ence, vol. ii. p. 214. 



THE POET GRAY. 35 

LETTER X. 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

Dear Mr. Gray, Tunbridge, Sept. io, 1755. 

I was told yesterday by Lady H.* that it was 
her birthday, and she wondered I had not written 
her some verses ; so I did, and here they are : 

Had R d bad my Muse essay 

To hail her on her natal day, 
I soon had ransack'd Nature's bowers 
For blushing fruits and fragrant flowers, 
And sworn, till fops believed it true, 
That all their sweetness, all their hue, 
Were nought to what her cheeks advance, 
Adorned tout a-la-mode de France : 
Or had gay Lady C * * * * 
Been bent on such an odd design, 
And deigned my verses to receive 
(For verse is all I have to give), 
It soon had been my tuneful pray'r 
To beg propitious Fate to spare 
The bliss she has, and always lend 
An easy lord and gen'rous friend : 
But how to suit my song to you 
Is mighty hard, for, entre nous, 
You're most unfashionably fair, 
Content with your own face and hair ; 

* i. e. Holdernesse. 
D 2 



36 LETTERS OF 

And, more unfashionably true, 

A husband bounds your utmost view. 

This then the case, my rhymes I'll close, 

And wish, in verse as plain as prose, 

That Tunbridge from her springs may grant 

The little added health you want ; 

And that for many a happy year 

You need not to her fount repair, 

Unless to see, as now you see, 

Each varied form of vanity, 

And candid laugh, as now you do, 

At all the fools her walks can shew. 

Yet one wish more, — may Fortune kind 

Soon briskly blow a North-east wind ; 

And then, some few days past and gone, 

You'll scarce pull coifs for St. Simon. 

You must observe this is not the St. Simon 
mentioned in a book you have formerly read, 
called the Testament, but another quite of a 
different family, and whose name is pronounced 
Sensimmong, like a dactyle. Well, how do you 
like my verses ? whether shall I call them " To 

Lady H on her Birth-day," or a " Lampoon 

on Lady R and Lady ?" One talks 

of nothing but lampoons here. Pray unde 
derivatur lampoon ? # You have a pretty knack 
at an old-fashioned Welsh ode, but you are 

* It is derived, acccording to the dictionaries, from the old 
French word tamper, potare. 



THE POET GRAY. 37 

nothing like me at an impromptu. If you write 
to me, direct " To the young man my aunt Dent 
had liked to have ravished." Axton wrote to 
me yesterday about his Fellowship; it was rather 
a sesquipedalian letter. However, I answered it 
to-day, and hoped he would behave gratefully 
to Mr. Brown, who I said was much his friend, 
and would secure him his Fellowship; and so, 
having concluded my paper, I am yours. 

Pray give my best compliments to Dr. Whar- 
ton and his lady, and the ejected statesman ; 
and, if you will write to me immediately to Hull, 
I will tell you when I'll meet you at Cam- 
bridge. Do you know what Whitehead's place 
is worth ?* 



LETTER XI. 

THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

DEAR Mr GRAY, Wadworth, Nov. 26, 1755. 

It is not true that I again make interest to be 
transported into Ireland, and yet I believe too it 
will be my fate; I am totally passive in the whole 

* In 1755 Whitehead, through the interest of Lady Jersey, 
was made secretary and registrar of the Right Honourable 
Order of the Bath. — See Mason's Life of Whitehead, p. 86. 



db LETTERS OF 

affair, and shall remain so. The only step I 
ever took which could he called active, was to 
write a letter to Mr. Bonfoy,* simply to inquire 
whether it was true that the Marquis t intended 
to take me next, which he has now answered 
in the affirmative ; but, as Lowth is still to con- 
tinue first chaplain, the time when is uncertain, 
and cannot be these two years, in which space, 
you know, a man may die or do a hundred 
pretty things. But I hear, since I came into 
these parts, that Seward J the critic is very 
anxious about taking my place, and has made 
offers of making over to me a great living in 
the Peak, if he may go in my stead (here too 
I preserve my passivity), it being totally indif- 
ferent to me whether they thrust me into the 

* Of Abbot's Ripton, Huntingdonshire. His name occurs 
several times in the Correspondence. He is mentioned by 
Walpole to West as being at Paris in April 1789, when 
Walpole and Gray were there. See note to Lett, xxxvu. of this 
volume, and a letter of the Rev. Mr. Jones, in Nichols's Lite- 
rary Anecdotes, vol. viii. p. 378. "All was attention and 
delight in Mr. Bonfoys parlour, when he (Mr. Parnham) sang 
Mat. Prior's song," &c. 

■f Marquis of Hartington, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, May 
1755, afterwards Duke of Devonshire. 

\ The Rev. Thomas Seward, canon of Lichfield, and editor 
of Beaumont and Fletcher, father of Anna Seward. The great 
living was, I presume, " Eyam," of which he was rector. 



THE POET GRAY. 39 

Devil's A or an Irish bog. Yet, though I 

say I am indifferent to both these, I will in 
my present circumstances embrace either. The 
world has nothing to give me that I really care 
for ; therefore whatever she gives me, or how- 
ever she gives it, does not matter a rush, and 
yet I own I would have something more of her 
too, merely because I have not philosophy, or 
a better thing, economy, to make what I have 
a competency. 

Whitehead has sent me some verses from 
Vienna,* treating of my indolence and other 
weighty matters, and exhorting me not to 
detach myself too much from the world. The 
verses are really very easy and natural, and 
I would transcribe them for you, if it was not 
too much trouble ; and yet you would not like 
them if I did, because of some words which 
I know would not digest upon your stomach, 
neither do they on mine. For I do not know 
how it is, but the slops you have given me 
have made my digestive faculties so weak, that 
several things of that sort, which were once as 
easy to me as hasty pudding, never get through 

* I do not see these verses in Whitehead's collected works. 
I possess a copy of the tragedy of (Edipus, left unfinished by 
Whitehead, and finished by Mason, privately printed at York, 
alluded to in the Garrick Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 90. 



40 LETTERS OP 

the first concoction, and lay as heavy in the 
prima via as toasted cheese, all which I impute 
to your nursery, where you would never let 
one eat any thing that was solid, as I did at 
St. John's. Write (you say) something stately 
at Aston ; * I write nothing there but sermons, 
and those I only transcribe. Write yourself, if 
you please ; at least finish your Welsh ode, and 
send it me to Hull ; for there is an alderman 
there that I want to give his opinion about it. 

But pray why, Mr. Gray, must I write, and 
you not ? Upon my word, Sir, I really do not 
mean it as a flattery or any thing of that sort ; 
no, Sir, I detest the insinuation ; but, Mast my 
laurels, Sir, if I do not think you write vastly 
better than I do. I swear by Apollo, my dear 
Sir, that I would give all my Elfrida (Odes 
included) to be the author of that pretty Elegy 
that Miss Plumtree can say off book. And I 
protest to you that my Ode on Memory, t after it 

* Mason was instituted to the rectory of Aston, and ap- 
pointed chaplain to the Earl of Holdernesse, Nov. 1754. This 
living he held till his death, in 1797, when he was succeeded 
by the Eev. Christopher Alders on, who was followed by his 
son the Rev. William Alderson, who died in the autumn of 
1852. 

t This ranks first of his Odes. In his Works, vol. i. 

p. 19: 

" Mother of Wisdom, thou whose sway 

The throiig'd ideal hosts obey," &c. 



THE POET GBAY. 41 

has gone through all the limce labor that our 
friend Horace prescribes, nay, Sir, prematur 
nonum in. annum (above half of which time it 
has already, I assure you, been concealed malgre 
my partiality to it), — I say that that very Ode 
is not, nor ever will be, half so terse and com- 
plete as the fragment of your Welsh Ode, # which 
is, as one may say, now just warm from your 
brain, and one would expect as callow as a new- 
hatched chicken (pardon the barn-door simile). 
But all your productions are of a different sort; 
they come from you armed cap-a-pie, at all 
points, as Minerva is said to have issued from 
the head of Jupiter. I have thus said enough 
to show you, that, however I may have laid 
aside the practical part of poetry, I retain all 
that internal force, that ignea vis which in- 
spires every true son of Parnassus ; with all 
which I am fervently yours, 

W. Mason. 

See on the opening lines of it, Hurd's Dissertation on the 
Marks of Imitation, addressed to Mr. Mason, p. 190, which 
lines he traced to a passage in the Prolusiones of Strada. 
* The Bard. 



42 LETTERS OF 

LETTER XII. 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 
DEAR SIR, Chiswick, Dec. 25, 1755. 

You desired me to write you news ; but, 
though there are a great many promotions, 
they seem to me, as far as I can judge, all such 
dirty ones, that you may spare me the trouble 
of naming them, and pick them out of a news- 
paper, if you think it worth while. There is a 
bon mot of Mr. Pitt's handed about, out of the 
late debate about the treaties.* Somebody had 
compared the Russians to a star rising out of 
the north, &c. Pitt replied, he was glad the 
place of the star was thus fixed, for he was 
certain it was not that star which once appeared 
in the east, and which the wise men worshipped; 
though it was like it in one particular, for it 
made its worshippers bring gifts. Charles 
Townshend, in the same debate, called Lord 
Holland an unthinking, unparliamentary minis- 

* On the debate concerning the treaties, see Horace Wal- 
pole's Miscell. Letters, vol. iii. p. 170-183, at which he was 
present. It was in this debate that the Honourable Mr. G. 
Hamilton made the famous speech, which now forms his 
pseudo-christian name ; though he spoke again within a few 
months, and again shone. 



THE POET GRAY. 43 

ter, for which he was severely mumbled by Mr. 
Pox ; which I am glad of, because he is certainly 
a most unprincipled patriot. But perhaps all 
this is old to you ? I am tired of the subject, 
and will drop it. 

There is a sweet song in Demofoonte, called 
" Ogni amante," sung by Bicciarelli.* Pray 
look at it; it is almost verbatim the air in 
Ariadne ; but I think better. I am told it is a 
very old one of Scarlatti's, which, if true, Handel 
is almost a musical Lauder. 

Voltaire's mock poem, called "La Pucelle,"f 

* Ricciarelli was a neat and pleasing performer, with a clear, 
flexible, and silver-toned voice, but so much inferior to Min- 
gotti, both in singing and acting, that he never was in very- 
high favour. It was in the admirable drama of Demofoonte, 
that Mingotti augmented her theatrical consequence, and ac- 
quired much applause, beyond any period of her performance 
in England. — Dr. Burney's Hist, of Music, vol. iv. pp. 464-468. 

f A day or two before Voltaire's death, says Lacretelle, 
" Les hommes les plus distingues du royaume venaient tour-a- 
tour le soutenir; on baisait ses vetemens, on tombait a ses 
pieds. ' Vous voulez done,' dit le vieillard, ' me faire mourir de 
plaisir.' Ces acclamations le suivoient jusqu'a sa demeure. II 
s'entendait benir de tous ses ouvrages, de la Pucelle cT Orleans 
comme de la Henriade." See Hist. t. v. p. 159. " Voltaire 
was alarmed almost to insanity by the escape of his Pucelle 
d' Orleans, indiscreetly trusted to a female friend, which a 
person of the name of Grasset had grossly interpolated, and 
offered even to Voltaire himself for sale." Boaden's Life of 



44 LETTERS OF 

is to be met with, though not sold publicly in 
town ; I had a short sight of it the other day. 
If you have any curiosity to see it, I can send 
it you, with Eraser's assistance, in a couple of 
covers. I have been here ever since I left 
Cambridge, except one opera night. My ab- 
sence from my pianoforte almost makes me 
peevish enough to write a Bolingbrokian Essay 
upon Exile. Why will you not send me my 
Inscription? and with it be sure add a disserta- 
tion upon Sigmas ; and tell me, with all Dr. 
Taylor's* accuracy, whether a S, or a 0, or an 6, 
is the most classical. You can write Disserta- 
tions upon the Pelasgi, and why not upon this, 
when it is for the use of a learned friend? Always 
twitting you (you say) with the Pelasgi. Why, 
it is all I can twit you with. I wish you good 
success at brag as well as sweet temper. May 
the latter be nOAT I1AKTIAGC AATME- 
A EST EPA, and the former make your purse 

Kemble, vol. i. p. 137. On Gray's opinion of Voltaire, see 
Nicholls's Reminiscences of Gray, p. 33. His admiration of 
his genius (for lie thought his tragedies next to Shakspere's) 
was united to an abhorence of his principles. 

* Dr. John Taylor, the very learned editor of Demosthenes, 
Lysias, and of the Marmor Sandvicense, which latter work 
is more immediately alluded to in this letter. See Memoirs 
of Taylor, collected and edited by J. Nichols, 1819, and 
Bp. Monk's Life of Bentley, vol. ii. p. 294. 



THE POET GRAY. 45 

XPY2& XPY20TEPA. I see in the papers 
Dodsley has published an Ode on the Earth- 
quake at Lisbon, with some Thoughts on a 
Churchyard. I suppose you are the author, 
and that you have tagged your Elegy to the 
tail of it ; however, if I do not suppose so, I 
hope the world will, in order that people may 
lay out their sixpences on that rather than on 
Duncombe's * flattery to Eobus, and the old 
horse. What a scribbling humour am I in ! 
I will relieve you, however, by adding only my 
love to Mr. Brown, Tuthill, and all friends, 
and assuring you that I am yours with the 
greatest sincerity, 

Schoddles. 

Shall I trouble you, dear Sir, to wish Dr. 
Long and old Cardale a merry Christmas in 
my name ? Lady Rochford assures me that 
Lady Coventry " has a mole on one of her 
ladyship's necks, * * * * * " 

* See Bell's Fugitive Poetry, vol. xviii. p. 91, for the Ode by 
J. Duncombe, M.A. to his Grace the Duke of Newcastle. A life 
of him may be found in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. viii. 
p. 271-278. He died at his living of Heme, near Canterbury, 
in Jan. 1786, aged 56. Fobus was the name by which the 
Duke of Newcastle is usually designated by Gray ; and the old 
horse is George the Second, who is also praised in this ode. 



46 LETTERS OE 

LETTER XIII. 

TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR SkRODDLES, Pemb. Hall, Tuesday, 1756. 

If all the Greek you transcribe for me were 
poetry already, I would bestir myself to oblige 
you and Mr. Bivett;* but as it is no more than 
measured prose, and as unfortunately (in Eng- 
lish verse) a tripod with two ears or more has 
no more dignity than a chamber-pot with one, 
I do not see why you would have me dress it 
up with any florid additions, which it must 
have, if it would appear in rhyme ; nor why it 
will not prove its point as well in a plain prose 
translation as in the best numbers of Dry den. 
If you think otherwise, why do not you do it 
yourself, and consult me if you think fit ? 

I rejoice to hear the prints succeed so well, and 
am impatient for the work, but do not approve 
the fine-lady part of it ; what business have 
such people with Athens ? I applaud your 
scheme for Gaskarth,t and wish it could have 

* Nicholas Rivett, the associate of Mr. J. Stuart in the 
measurement and delineation of the Antiquities of Athens. 
See memoir of him in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. ix. 
p. 147. Monthly Review, xlii. 369; lii. 193. 

j* Joseph Gaskarth was treasurer of the College of Pem- 
broke; in 1747 he was the fifth senior wrangler. 



THE POET GRAY. 47 

succeeded. He bears his disappointment like 
a philosopher, but his health is very bad. I 
have had the honour myself of some little 
grumblings of the gout for this fortnight, and 
yesterday it would not let me put on a shoe to 
hear the Frasi in, # so you may imagine I am in 
a sweet amiable humour ; nevertheless, I think 
of being in town (perhaps I may not be able to 
stir) the middle of next week, with Montagu. 
You are so cross-grained as to go to Tunbridge 
just before I come, but I will give you the 
trouble to inquire about my old quarters at 
Roberts's, if I can probably have a lodging at 
that time ; if not there, may be I can be in the 
Oven, which will do well enough for a sinner : 
be so good to give me notice, and the sooner 
the better. I shall not stay above a week, and 
then go to Stoke. I rejoice to know that the 
genial influences of the spring, which produce 
nothing but the gout in me, have hatched high 
and unimaginable fantasies in you. I see, me- 
thinks (as I sit on Snowdon), some glimpse of 
Mona and her haunted shades, and hope we 
shall be very good neighbours. Any Druidical 
anecdotes that I can meet with I will be sure to 

* An opera-singer not of the first rank. See Burney's 
History of Music, vol. iv. p. 452. She was pupil to Signor 
Brrvio. 



48 LETTERS OF 

send you. I am of your opinion, that the ghosts 
will spoil the picture, unless they are thrown 
at a huge distance, and extremely kept down. 

The British Mag,* I fear, has behaved itself 
like a trained-band pair of colours in Bunhill 
Fields. I think every day of going to Switzer- 
land ; will you be of the party, or stay and sing 
mass at Aston ? Adieu ! I am stupid, and in 
some pain ; but ever very sincerely yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER XIV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Stoke, July 25th, 1756. 

I feel a contrition for my long silence, and 
yet perhaps it is the last thing you trouble your 
head about ; nevertheless, I will be as sorry as 
if you took it ill. I am sorry too to see you so 
punctilious as to stand upon answers, and never 
to come near me till I have regularly left my 

* Allusion to the loss of Minorca and Admiral Byng's eon- 
duct. See Mr. Pitt's letter to Mr. Grenville, June 5, 1756, on 
this subject — " Byng is gone to Gibraltar, and, if his own 
account does not differ widely from that of the French, where 
he ought to go next is pretty evident" &c. vol. i. p. 164. 



THE POET GRAY. 49 

name at your door, like a mercer's wife that 
imitates people who go a visiting. I would 
forgive you this, if you could possibly suspect I 
were doing any thing that I liked better, for 
then your formality might look like being 
piqued at my negligence, which has somewhat 
in it like kindness ; but you know I am at 
Stoke, hearing, seeing, doing, absolutely no- 
thing, not such a nothing as you do at Tun- 
bridge, chequered and diversified with a succes- 
sion of fleeting colours, but heavy, lifeless, 
without form and void ; sometimes almost as 
black as the moral of Voltaire's Lisbon,* which 

* "Poeme sur la Desastre de Lisbon, 1755; ou, Examen de 
cet axiome Tout est bien." See Poemes de Voltaire, torn. xii. 
p. 119. As Gray has alluded to the black moral of this poem, 
I may mention with the praise it richly deserves Professor 
Smyth's noble digression in his Lectures on the subject of these 
dangerous writings of Voltaire, and of the unhealthy regions 
of French literature. See vol. ii. p. 312 — 316. Voltaire in 
his Preface has endeavoured to defend his Moral ; " LAuteur 
du Poeme sur le desastre de Lisbonne ne combat pas 1'illustre 
Pope (Essai sur l'Homme), qu'il a toujours admire et aime; 
il pense comme lui sur presque tous les points ; mais penetre 
du malheur des hommes, il s'eleve contre les abus qu'on peut 
faire de cet ancien axiome ' Tout est bien." 1 II adopte cette 
triste et plus ancienne verite, reconnue de tous les hommes, 
qiCil y a du mal sur la terre." See also Lettre xlii. a M. de 
Cideville, " II (Pope) prouve en beau vers, que la nature de 
1'homme a toujours ete et toujours du etre ce qu'elle est. Je 

E 



50 LETTERS OF 

angers you so. I have had no more pores* and 
muscular inflations, and am only troubled with 
this depression of mind ; you will not expect 
therefore I should give you any account of my 
verve, which is at best, you know, of so delicate 
a constitution, and has such weak nerves, as not 
to stir out of its chamber above three days in a 
year, but I shall inquire after yours, and why 
it is off again ; it has certainly worse nerves 
than mine, if your reviewers have frighted it. 
Sure I (not to mention a score of your uncles f 
and aunts) am something a better judge than all 
the man midwives and presbyterian parsons 
that ever were born. Pray give me leave to 
ask you, do you find yourself tickled with the 
commendations of such people ? for you have 
your share of these too. I dare say not ; your 
vanity has certainly a better taste; and can, then, 
the censure of such critics move you ? I own it 
is an impertinence in these gentry to talk of 
one at all either in good or in bad, but this we 
must all swallow; I mean not only we that 
write, but all the we's that ever did any thing 

suis bien etonne qu'un pretre Normand ose traduire de ces 
verites." 

* " pores " omitted in Mason. 

f "A score of your other critics."-— Mason's edition. 



THE POET GRAY. 51 

to be talked of.* I cannot pretend to be learned 
without books, nor to know the Druids from the 
Pelasgi at this distance from Cambridge. I 
can only tell you not to go and take the Mona 
for the Isle of Man ; it is Anglesey, a tract of 
plain country, very fertile, but picturesque only 
from the view it has of Caernarvonshire, from 
which it is separated by the Menai, a narrow 
arm of the sea. Forgive me for supposing in 
you such a want of erudition. 

I congratulate you on our glorious successes 
in the Mediterranean. Shall we go in time, 
and hire a house together in Switzerland? it is a 
fine poetical country to look at, and nobody 
there will understand a word we say or write, f 
Pray let me know what you are about ; what 

* Here Mason, in the MS., has written the following sen- 
tences (taken mostly from the preceding letter), which he has 
ordered to be inserted in this place : " While I write I receive 
yours, and rejoice to find that the influences of this fine 
season, which produce nothing in me, have hatched high and 
unimaginable fancies in you. I see, methinks, as I sit on 
Snowdon, some glimpse of Mona and her haunted shades, and 
hope we shall be very good neighbours. Any druidical anec- 
dotes that I can meet with I will be sure to send you when I 
return to Cambridge, but I cannot pretend to be learned 
without books, or to know the druids from modern bishops at 
this distance. I can only add — ." 

f Here the letter in Mason's edition ends. 

E 2 



52 LETTERS OF 

new acquaintances yon have made at Tun- 
bridge ; how you do in body and in mind ; 
believe me ever sincerely yours, 

T. G. 

Have you read Madame Maintenon' s Letters?* 

* These Letters were published, with a Life of the writer, 
by La Beaumelle, the great enemy and plague of Voltaire. 
See in "Walpole and Mason Correspondence, i. 236, a 
French epigram on Beaumelle, Freron, and Voltaire. " This 
work," says Professor Smyth, " in spite of Voltaire, still 
keeps its place." See Lord Chesterfield's opinion of these 
Letters in vol. iv. p. 1 (Mrs. Stanhope's edition). " I am sure 
they are genuine ; they both entertain'd and inform'd me." 
Colonel Johnes, of Hafod, published the Original Memoirs of 
Madame de Maintenon, with the various castrations and 
alterations, from Beaumelle's own copy. Voltaire in his Dic- 
tionnaire Philosophique, tome 1, p. 361, has argued against 
the correctness of these Memoirs, and also in his Siecle de 
Louis XIV. has written numerous notes against them. Horace 
Walpole confesses that two or three of these letters have made 
him jealous for his adored Madame de Sevigne. See on them 
the Edinburgh Eeview, No. Lxxxvin. by Sir James Mackintosh, 
and also Professor Smyth on the French Eevolution, vol. i. 
p. 18. Chaudon in his Dictionnaire Historique (art. Maintenon), 
thus accuses Beaumelle: "En publiant les Lettres, il y a fait 
quelquefois des changemens qui les rendent infidelles ; il fait dire 
a Madame de Maintenon des choses qu'elle n'a jamais pensees, et 
celles qu'elle a pensees d'une maniere dont elle ne les a 
jamais dites;" and Barbier says, " La Beaumelle avoit pret^ 
a cette dame son bel esprit dans des courtes mais frequentes 
additions." See Bibl. d'un Homme de Gout, vol. iv. p. 46. 



THE POET GRAY. 53 

When I saw Lord John* in town, he said, if his 
brother went to Ireland you were to go second 
chaplain, but it seemed to me not at all certain 
that the Duke would return thither ; you pro- 
bably know by this time. 



LETTER XV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Stoke, July 30, Friday, 1756. 

I received your letters both at once yesterday, 
which was Thursday, such is the irregularity of 
our post. The affair of Southwell, at this time, 
is exceedingly unlucky ; if it is committed to 
you by all means defer it. It is even worth 
while to stop Mrs. Southwell, who will enter 
into the reason of it. Another thing is, you have 
very honestly and generously renounced your 
own interest (I mention it not as a compliment, 
hut pour let r arete dufaitj to serve Mr. Brown. 
But what if you might serve him still better 
by seemingly making interest for yourself ? Ad- 
dison must certainly be a competitor ; he will 
have the old (new) Lord Walpole, of Wolter- 
ton, his patron, to back him, the Bishop of 

* Lord John Cavendish. 



54 LETTERS OF 

Chester,* the heads, who know him for a staunch 
man, and consequently the Duke of Newcastle. 
If you can divide or carry this interest, and by 
it gain the dirty part of the college, so as to 
throw it into Mr. Brown's scale at pleasure, 
perhaps it may produce an unanimous election. 
This struck me last night as a practicable thing, 
but I see some danger in it, for you may dis- 
oblige your own friends, and Lord Holdernesse 
must, I doubt, be acquainted with your true 
design, who very likely will not come into it. 
T. and also Mr. B. himself should be acquainted 
with it immediately ; consider therefore well 
whether this or the plain open way (which, I 
own, is commonly the best) be most likely to 
succeed; the former, if it be found imprac- 
ticable for Mr. B., at least may make it sure for 
yourself, which is to be wished. In the next 
place (it is odd to talk thus to a man about 
himself, but I think I know to whom I am 
talking,) I have puzzled my head about a list 
of the college, and can make out only these ; 
pray supply it for me : Brown, Gaskarth, 
May, Cardale, Bedford, Milbourne, Tuthill,f 

* Dr. Edmund Keene, Master of St. Peter's College, Cam- 
bridge ; and who, on resigning the Mastership, procured Dr. 
Law to be elected. He will be mentioned again, more fully. 

•(• Henry Tuthill, of St, Peter's Coll. ; admitted at Pembroke 



THE POET GRAY. 55 

Spencer, Forrester, Mapletoft, Delaval, Axton.* 
I do not know if Spencer's Fellowship be vacant 
or not, or whether a majority only of the whole 
or two-thirds be required to choose a Master. 

I should hope nine of these, and perhaps 
Mapletoft too, if Gaskarth pleases, might be 
got for Mr. Brown, but I can answer only 
for T[uthill]. Bedford has always professed a 
friendship for Mr. B. but he is a queer man ; 
his patron is a Mr. Buller of Cornwall, a tory ; 
Delaval, Gaskarth, Milbourne, and Axton, you 
may soon inquire into yourself; Spencer (if he 
is one) has promised Dr. Wharton. 

I write to Mr. W.f (your neighbour over the 

Coll. 5 July, 1746; admitted Fellow 1748-9; deprived of his 
fellowship Feb. 2, 1757. Gray had a great regard for him, as 
may be seen by his early Letters. See his Works, vol. iii. 
pp. 47, 54 ; and the Letter to Dr. Wharton, dated 17 February, 
1757, will shew the pain and suffering which were the conse- 
quence of this unhappy history. See note to Nichols' and 
Gray's Correspondence, ed. Aid. pref. p. viii. 

* These are the names of the Fellows of Pembroke. Dela- 
val and Cardale appear in the Cambridge Calendar as having 
taken wranglers' degrees in 1750-1, and Axton, a senior 
optime in 1755. Spencer, late Fellow of Pembroke, went to 
Trinity, and took his degree in 1750. Of Bedford and Mil- 
bourne I can give no account. 

f Horace Walpole, who lived in the same street as Mason, 
viz., Arlington Street. 



56 LETTERS OF 

way) to desire him to speak to Mr. P. or the 
Duke of Bedford, if it may be of use, and add 
that if he will let you know he is at home you 
will come and give him any information neces- 
sary. Whether this will signify I cannot say, but 
I do not see any hurt it can do. 

I wish like you I were at Cambridge, but 
to hurry down on this occasion would be worse 
than useless, according to my conception. I 
am glad you think of going, if they approve it. 
Dr. Long, if he is not dead, will recover,* — mind 
if he don't. I leave my answer to your first 
letter to another opportunity, and am always 

yours, 

T. G. 

* He did recover, and lived till Dec. 16, 1770, when he 
was in his 9 2d year. In his 88th year he was put in nomi- 
nation for the office of Vice Chancellor. He appears in 
Churchill's "Candidate:" 

" Comes Sumner, wise and chaste as chaste can be, 
With Long as wise, and not less chaste than he." 

In the Gent. Mag. List of Deaths, 1770, is Eoger Long, aged 
91. See Gray's Letters to Mr. Cole on Dr. Long's funeral, 
in Works, vol. iv. p. 194, and p. 196- 



THE POET GRAY. 57 

LETTER XVI. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR SKRODDLES, Dec. 19, 1756. 

# # * # rpkg man ' s name is Joannes Geor- 
gius Frickius, Commentatio de Druidis: acce- 
dunt Opuscula qusedam rariora, historiam et 
antiquitates Druidarum illustrantia item que 
Scriptbrum de iisdem Catalogus.* It was pub- 
lished at TJlm, 1744, 4to., and in the Nova 
Acta Eruditoruin (printed at Leipsic for 1745), 
there is some account of it. The rare little 
works which make the second part of it, are, 
Peter L'Escalopier's Theologia Vett m . Gal- 
lorum; Caesar. Bulacus, in Historia Vett m . 
Academiarum Gallise Druidicarum ; and two or 
three more old flams. I do not know what 

* Joannis Georgii Frickii, Joan. pi. rov fiaicctpirov, A. M. 
ad sed. S.S. Trinit. Ulm. Pastoris et Gymnas. Visitatoris, 
itemque Societ. Teutonics Leipsicis Sodalis, Commentatio de 
Druidis Occident alium Popnlorum Philosoplris, multo quam 
antea auctior et emendatior. Accedunt Opuscula qussdam 
rariora Hist, et Antiq. Druidum illustrantia, itemque Scrip- 
torum de eisdem Catalogus. Recensuit, singula digessit, ac 
in lucem edidit frater germanus, Albertus Frickius, A. M. 
V. D. M. Prof. P. P. et Biblioth. Adj. Ulm. itemque M. Prof. 
P. P. et &c. Ulmae, 1744, 4to. See Nov. Act. Eruditorum, 
vol. Lxiv. p. 237, Mens. Junii, 1745, p. 1. 



58 LETTERS OE 

satisfaction you will find in all this, having 
never seen the book itself. I find a French 
book commended and cited by Jaques Martin 
upon the Religion of the Ancient Gauls. 

Over leaf you will find a specimen of my Lord 
Duke of Norfolk's housekeeping. I desire you 
would inquire of Mr. Noble, or somebody, what 
the same provisions would cost now-a-days. 

I send you a modern curiosity inclosed, a 
specimen of sturdy begging, which cost me half- 
a-guinea ; if he writes so to strangers, what 
must he do to particular friends like you. Pray 
learn a style and manner against you publish 
your Proposals. 

Odikle* is not a bit grown, though it is fine 
mild open weather. Bell Selby has dreamed that 
you are a Dean or Prebendary ; I write you 

word of it, because they say a w 's dreams 

are lucky, especially with regard to church pre- 
ferment. 

You forget Mr. Senhouse's acoustic warm- 
ing-pan : we are in a hurry, for I cannot speak 
to him till it comes. God bless you, come and 
bring it with you, for we are as merry as the 
day is short. The squire is gone ; he gave us a 
goose and a turkey, and two puddings of a 
moderate size. Adieu, dove, I am ever yours. 

* The Bard. 



THE POET GRAY. 



59 



Gaskyn, and the Viper, &c. desire their 
civilities. 

What prevys, marlings, and oxbirds are I 
cannot tell, no more than I can tell how to 
make Stoke fritters ; leche is blanc-manger ; 
wardyns are baking-pears ; doyse are does. Do 
not think they lived thus every day. If you 
would know how they eat on meagre days and 
in ordinary I will send you word. I shall only 
add that Lord Surrey loved buttered lyng and 
targets of mutton for breakfast; and my Lady's 
Grace used to piddle with a chine of beef upon 
brewess. 

You will wonder what I mean by the half- 
guinea I talked of above ; it was a card from 
Mr. Prankling, which I meant to inclose, but 
cannot find it high or low. 



Chutstmas Day. 

Empt: — Item, 35 malards, 2\d. a-pece 

Item, 55 wigyns, 2d. a-pece 

Item, 38 teles, Id. a-pece 

Item, 2 corlewys 

Item, 2 prevys,* 2d. a-pece 



7 
10 
4 
1 




d. 
3 
2 
9 

4 



* " Prevys" may be the " pivier," or golden plover ; "mar- 
lvngs," the " morinellus," or dotterel. The " purre," Tringa 
cinclus, is called provincially the oxbird, a species of sand- 
piper. 



60 



LETTERS OE 



Item, 2 plovers, 2d. a-pece 
Item, 8 woodcocks, 3d. a-pece 
Item, 42 marlyngs, \d. a-pece 
Item, 42 rede-shanks, \d. a-pece 
Item, 17 doz. and \ oxbyrdys, 3d. 
Item, 40 grete byrdys, \d. a-pece 
Item, 40 small byrdys, 4c?. a doz. 
Item, 11 pyggs 
Item, 200 eggs, 8d. 
Item, 31 cople conyse, fett at bery^ 



doz. 






4 


2 





1 


9 


1 


9 


4 


4 


1 


8 





10 


3 


8 


2 


8 


10 


4 



Presents : — 10 cople teles, 3 cople wegyns, 
4 cople se-pyse, 8 malards, 3 doz. snytts, 5 cloz. 
oxbyrdys, 6 se-mewys, 2 swanys, 2 pecocks, 
14 partridges, 4 woodcoks, 15 doyse, 4 gallons 
creme, 6 gall, cord, a hundred ^ of wardyns, a 
bushell apples. Breakfast, to my Ladyse Grace : 
Braune, and a capon stuyd. To my Lord's 
Grace, a Crystmas-day dyner : First course (the 
Duke and Duchess and 24 persons to the same), 
the borys hede, brawne, pottage, a stuyd capon, 
a bake-mett with twelve birdys, rostyd vele, a 
swane, two rostyd capons, a custerde, Stoke- 
fritter, leeche. (Second course) : Gely, three 
conyse, five teles, a pekoke, twelve rede-shanks, 

* Thirty-one couple of conies, taken at the burro.w ; Bery, 
or berrie, means burrow. Thus Dryden : — 



The theatres are berries for the fair." 



THE POET GRAY. 61 

12 small byrdys, 2 pastyse veneson, a tarte, 
gynger-brede. (To the Bordys end) : Brawne, 
a stuyd capon, a bakyd cony, rostyd yele, half 
a swane, custerde, leche. (Hewarde) : Gely, 
2 conyse, 4 teles, 12 small byrdys, a pasty 
venison, a tarte. 

There was also a table for the gentlewomen, 
and 12 persons to the same, and the servants 
table or tables, at which sate 28 gentlemen, 60 
yeomen, 44 gromes, and gentlemen's servants ; 
the meats were much the same with the former. 
One day this Christmas I see there were 347 
people dined at the lower tables. The whole 
expense of the week (exclusive of wine, spices, 
salt, and sauce, &c.) amounted to 31/. 9s. 
6^. 



Ode, p. 32.* — "Whom Camber bore." I sup- 

* Gray now begins a criticism on the Ode in Mason's 
Caractacns : 

" Hail, thou harp of Phrygian fire ! 
In years of yore that Camber bore," &c. 

See Masons Works, vol. ii. p. 110. In a note in his Ode on 
the Hon. William Pitt, 4to., 1782, Mason says, " The poem of 
Caractacus was read in MS. by the late Earl of Chatham, who 
honoured it with an approbation which the author is proud to 
record." 



62 LETTERS OF 

pose you say "whom" because the harp is 
treated as a person ; but there is an ambiguity 
in it; and I should read "that Camber bore." 
There is a specimen of nice criticism for you ! 

I much approve the six last lines of this 
stanza ; it is a noble image, and well expressed 
to the fancy and to the ear. 

I. 2.— A rill has no tide of waters to " tumble 
down amain." I am sorry to observe this just 
in a place where I see the difficulty of rhyming. 
I object nothing to the " Symphony of ring- 
doves and poplars," but that it is an idea 
borrowed from yourself; and I would not have 
you seem to repeat your own inventions. 

I conceive the four last lines to be allegorical, 
alluding to the brutal ferocity of the natives, 
which by the power of music was softened into 
civility. It should not, therefore, be the "wolf- 
dog," but the "wolf" itself, that bays the 
trembling moon ; it is the wolf that thins the 
flocks, and not the dog, who is their guardian. 

I. 3.— I read "The Fairy Fancy." I like 
all this extremely, and particularly the ample 
plumes of Inspiration, that 

" Beat on the breathless bosom of the air." 

Yet, if I were foolish, I could find fault with 
this verse, as others will do. But what I do 



THE POET GBAY. 63 

not conceive is, how such wings as those of In- 
spiration should be mistaken for the wings of 
Sleep, who (as you yourself tell me presently) 
"sinks softly down the skies;" besides, is not 
"her" false English? the nominative case is 
" she." 

II. 3. — This belongs to the second epode. 
Does the swart-star (that is, Sirius,) shine from 
the north ? I believe not. But Dr. Long will 
tell you. 

II. 2. — These are my favourite stanzas. I 
am satisfied, both mind and ear, and dare not 
murmur. If Mador would sing as well in the 
first chorus, I should cease to plague you. 
Only,- 

" Rise at her art's command " 

is harsh, and says no more than 

" Arise at her command,' 1 

or 

" Are born at her command." 

II. 3. — I told you of the swart- star before. 
At the end I read, 

" Till Destiny prepare a shrine of purer clay." 

Afterwards read, "Resume no more thy strain." 
You will say I have no notion of tout-ensembles, 
if I do not tell you that I like the scheme of 
this ode at least as well as the execution. 



64 LETTERS OF 

And now I rejoice with you in the recovery 
of your eyes ; pray learn their value, and be 
sparing of them.* I shall leave this place in 
about a fortnight, and within that time hope 
to despatch you a packet with my criticalities 
entire. I send this bit first, because you desire 
it. Dr. Wharton is in great hopes that Mr. 
Hurd will not treat Dr. Akenside so hardly as 
he intended, and desires you would tell him so, 
as his request is founded on mere humanity 
(for he pretends no friendship, and has but a 
slight acquaintance with the doctor).f I pre- 

* Mason's eyes were weak, a complaint that lasted more or 
less through his life. The place in his library was pointed 
out to me by Mr. Alderson, where he usually sate and wrote, 
and which was the most distant from the light. His poetical 
chair — sedes beata — was kindly bequeathed to me ; and I have 
left it by will to the Poet laureate of the day, that it may 
rest among the sacred brotherhood : — 

" laetumque choro Pceana canentes, 



Inter odoratum Lauri nemus." 

| In one of Mason's manuscript papers, I found the fol- 
lowing note relating to a celebrated passage in Akenside : — 

" Edward Maurice, Bishop of Ossory, left behind him a 
manuscript dramatic poem, of which the life of David was 
the subject. It is with other writings of his preserved 
among the MSS. at Trinity College, Dublin. The author of 
Letters between Henry and Frances (Mrs. Griffiths), in Letter 



THE POET GRAY. 65 

sent it to you, and wish you would acquaint 
Mr. Hurd with it, the sooner the better. 

I am well and stupid, but ever unalterably 
yours, T. Gr. 

I do not understand if Eraser is recovered ; I 

498, has published the following extract from it. The coin- 
cidence is curious: — 

" Abishai. 

" Has God then two anointed, to confound 
Suspended loyalty ? as when the sun, 
The god of eastern lands, imprints his ray 
On a cloud's compact vapour, and thence shines 
Another sun — the trembling priest aghast 
All doubtful stands, unknowing where to send 
The odour of his incense." 

Akenside says that when nature and her copy made by per- 
fect art are brought into comparison 

" Applauding love 

Doubts where to choose, and mortal man aspires 
To tempt creative praise, as when a cloud 
Of gathering hail with limpid crusts of ice, 
Inclos'd and obvious to the beaming sun, 
Collects his large effulgence ; straight the heavens 
With equal flames present on either land 
The radiant visage; Persia stands at gaze 
Appalled, and on the brink of Ganges doubts 
The snowy-vested seer, in Mithra's name 
To which the fragrance of the south shall burn, 
To which his warbled orizons ascend." 

Pleasures of the Imagination, b. iii. v. 427. 

r 



66 LETTERS 0E 

wish, he was. Do you know any thing of Stone- 
hewer ? 

P. 2. — I liked the opening as it was origi- 
nally better than I do now, though I never 
thoroughly understood " how blank he frowns." 
And as to " black stream," it gives me the idea 
of a river of mud.* I should read "dark stream," 
imagining it takes its hue only from the rocks 
and trees that overhang it. " These cliffs, these 
yawning," &c. comes in very well where it 
stood at first, and you have only removed it to 
another place, where, by being somewhat more 
diffused, it appears weaker. You have intro- 
duced no new image in your new beginning 
but one, " utters deep wailings," which is very 
well: but as to a "trickling runlet," I never 
heard of such a thing, unless it were a runlet 
of brandy. 

Yet I have no objection at all to the reflec- 
tion Didius makes on the power objects of the 
sight have over the soul ; it is in its place, and 
might even be longer, but then it should be 
more choicely and more feelingly expressed. 
He must not talk of dells and streams only, 

* Mason has, in accordance with Gray's criticism, given, 
11 How stern he frowns," and the " dark stream." The " trick- 
ling runlet" has entirely disappeared. 



THE POET GRAY. 67 

but of something more striking, and more cor- 
responding to the scene before him. Intellect 
is a word of science, and therefore is inferior to 
any more common word. 

P. 3. — For the same reason I reject " philo- 
sophy," and read " studious they measure, save 
when contemplation," &c. and here you omit 
two lines, relating to astronomy, for no cause 
that I discern. 

P. 4. — What is your quarrel to " shallops ?" 
I like " Go bid thine eagles soar," perhaps from 
obstinacy, for I know you have met with some 
wise gentleman who says it is a false thought, 
and informs you that these were not real eagles, 
but made of metal or wood painted. The word 
" seers," comes over too often : here, besides, it 
sounds ill. Elidurus need not be so fierce. 
" Dost thou insult us, Roman ?" was better be- 
fore. Sure " plan'd" is a nasty stiff word. 

P. 6. — It must be Caesar* and Pate; the name 
of Claudius carries contempt with it. 

P. 7.— 

" Brother, I spurn it, better than I scorn it. 
Misjudging Boy !" 

is weakly. He calls him coward because such 

* So it is printed, 

" Cassar and Fate demand him at your hand." 

f2 



68 LETTERS OF 

a reproach was most likely to sting him. " I'll 
do the deed myself," is bolder, more resolute, 
more hearty, than the alteration. " Lead forth 
the saintly," &c. better, shorter, and more lively 
at first. " What have I to do with purple robes 
and arraignments?" — like a trial at York 
assizes. 

P. 8. — " Try, if 'twill bring her deluging," &c. 
better so, only I do not like " strait justice :" 
" modest mounds " is far worse. 

P. 9. — " Do this and prosper, but pray thee," 
&c. Oh ! how much superior to the cold lines 
for which you would omit them. It is not you 
but somebody else that has been busy here and 
elsewhere. " Come from their caves." I read, 
" Are issuing from their caves. Hearest thou 
yon signal?" and put "awful" where it was 
before. " I'll wait the closing," &c. Leave it as 
it was. " Bo thou as likes thee best, betray, or 
aid me:" it is shorter and more sulky. Elidurus 
too must not go off in silence ; and what can he 
say better ? 

P. 10. — I do not dislike the idea of this cere- 
mony, but the execution of it is careless and 
hasty. The reply of the Semi-chorus is stolen 
from Dryden's (Edipus, which, perhaps, you 
never saw, nor I since I was a boy, at which 
time it left an impression on my fancy. Pray 



THE POET GRAY. 69 

look at it. This " dread ground " breaks my 
teeth. " Be it worm, or aske, or toad :" these 
are things for fairies to make war upon but not 
Druids, at least they must not name them. An 
aske* is something I never heard of. "Full five 
fathom under ground." Consider, five fathom is 
but thirty feet ; many a cellar lies deeper, t I 
read, " Gender' d by the autumnal moon ;" by 
its light I mean. " Conjoined " is a bad word. 
" Supernal art profound " is negligent. Indeed 
I do not understand the image, how the 
snakes in copulation should heave their egg to 
the sky ; you will say it is an old British fancy. 
I know it of old ; but then it must be made 
picturesque, and look almost as if it were 
true. 

P. 13. — "Befit such station." The verse 
wants a syllable. " Even in the breast of Mona," 
read "the heart of Mona." "Catches fresh 
grace;" the simile is good, but not this expres- 
sion. The Tower is more majestic, more vene- 
rable, not more graceful. I read, 

"He looks as doth the Tower 
After the conflict of Heaven's angry bolts ; 
Its nodding walls, its shatter'd battlements, 

* " Asker," in old language, was a ivater-newt, which Ma- 
son probably meant. 

f " Twice twelve for them under ground." So Edd. 



70 LETTERS OP 

Frown with a dignity unmark'd before, 
Ev'n in its prime of strength."* 

P. 13. — I do not desire he should return the 
Druid's salute so politely. Let him enter with 
that reflection, " This holy place, &c." and not 
stand upon ceremony. It required no altera- 
tion, only I hate the word " vegetate," and would 
read, 

" Tell me, Druid, 
Is it not better to be such as these 
Than be the thing I am?" 

I read, too, " Nor show a Praetor's edict," &c. 
and "pestilent glare," as they were before. 
Add, too, " See to the altar's base the victims 
led," &c. And then, whether they were bulls 
or men, it is all one. I must repeat again, that 
the word " Seers " is repeated for ever. 

P. 15. — " I know it, rev'rend Fathers," &c. 
This speech is sacred with me, and an example 
of dramatic poetry. Touch not a hair of its 
head, as you love your honour. 

* The text of Mason stands thus : 

" He looks, as doth the Tower, whose nodding Walls, 
After the conflict of Heaven's angry bolts, 
Frown with a dignity unmark'd before, 
Ev'n in its power of strength." 



THE POET GRAY. 71 

P. 16. I had rather some of these person- 
ages, " Resignation, Peace, Revenge, Slaughter, 
Ambition," were stript of their allegorical garb.* 
A little simplicity here in the expression would 
better prepare the high and fantastic strain, and 
all the unimaginable harpings that follow. I 
admire all from " Eager to snatch thee, &c." 
down to the first epode of the chorus. You 
give these Miltonic stanzas up so easily that I 
begin to waver about Mador's song. If you 
have written it, and it turn out the finest thing 
in the world, I rejoice, and say no more. Let 
it come though it were in the middle of a ser- 
mon ; but if not, I do confess, at last, that the 
chorus may break off, and do very well without 
a word more. Do not be angry at the trouble 
I have given you ; and now I have found the 
reason why I could not be pleased with Mador's 
philosophic song. The true lyric style, with 
all its flights of fancy, ornaments, and height- 
ening of expression, and harmony of sound, is 
in its nature superior to every other style; 
which is just the cause why it could not be 

* Chorus. " that Resignation meek, 

That dove-ey'd Peace, handmaid of Sanctity, 
Approached the altar with thee ; 'stead of these 
See I not gaunt Revenge, ensanguined Slaughter, 
And mad Ambition, &c." 



72 LETTERS OE 

borne in a work of great length, no more than 
the eye could bear to see all this scene that we 
constantly gaze upon, — the verdure of the fields 
and woods, the azure of the sea and skies, 
turned into one dazzling expanse of gems. The 
epic, therefore, assumed a style of graver colours, 
and only stuck on a diamond (borrowed from 
her sister) here and there, where it best became 
her. When we pass from the diction that suits 
this kind of writing to that which belongs to 
the former, it appears natural, and delights us ; 
but to pass on a sudden from the lyric glare 
to the epic solemnity (if I may be allowed to 
talk nonsense) has a very different effect. We 
seem to drop from verse into mere prose, from 
light into darkness. Another thing is, the 
pauses proper to one and the other are not at 
all the same; the ear therefore loses by the 
change. Do you think if Mingotti stopped 
in the middle of her best air, and only repeated 
the remaining verses (though the best Metas- 
tasio ever wrote), that they would not appear 
very cold to you, and very heavy? 

P. 24. — "Boldly dare " is tautology. 

P. 27. — " Brigantum :" there was no such 
place. 

P. 28. — "The sacred hares." You might as 
well say "the sacred hogs." 



THE POET GRAY. 73 

P. 29. — There is an affectation in so often 
using the old phrase of " or ere " for " before." 

P. 30. — " Rack" is the course of the clouds, 
"wreck" is ruin and destruction. Which do 
you mean ? I arn not yet entirely satisfied 
with the conclusion of this fine allegory. " That 
blest prize redeem' d " is flatly expressed; and 
her sticking the pages over the arch of her 
bower is an idea a little burlesque ; besides, are 
we sure the whole is not rather too long for 
the place it is in, where all the interests of the 
scene stand still for it ? and this is still drawn 
out further by the lines you have here put into 
the mouth of Caractacus. Do not mistake me ; 
I admire part of it, and approve almost all; 
but consider the time and place. 

P. 31. — " Pensive Pilgrim." Why not ? 
there is an impropriety in " wakeful wanderer." 
I have told you my thoughts of this chorus 
already ; the whole scheme is excellent, the 2d 
strophe and antistrophe divine. Money (I know) 
is your motive, and of that I wash my hands. 
Pame is your second consideration ; of that I 
am not the dispenser, but if your own approba- 
tion (for every one is a little conscious of his 
own talents) and mine have any weight with 
you, you will write an ode or two every year, 
till you are turned of fifty, not for the world, 



74 LETTERS OP 

but for us two only; we will now and then 
give a little glimpse of them, but no copies. 
P. 37. — I do not like " maidenhood." 
P. 38. — Why not " smoke in vain," as before? 
the word " meek" is too often repeated. 

P. 42. — The only reason why you have altered 
my favourite speech is, that " surging and 
plunging," " main and domain," come too near 
each other; but could not you correct these 
without spoiling all ? I read 

" Cast his broad eye upon the wild of ocean, 
And calm'd it with a glance ; then, plunging deep 
His mighty arm, pluck'd from its dark domain," &c. 

Pray have done with your " piled stores and 
coral floors." 

P. 43.— " The dies of Pate," that is, " the 
dice of Pate." Pind out another word. 

P. 44. — I cannot say I think this scene im- 
proved : I had no objection before, "but to 
harm a poor wretch like me ; " and what you 
have inserted is to me inferior to what it was 
meant to replace, except p. 47, " And why this 
silence," which is very well; the end of the 
scene is one of my favourite passages. 

P. 49.— Why scratch out " Thou, gallant 
boy " ? I do not know to what other scene you 
have transferred these rites of lustration, but 



THE POET GRAY. 75 

methinks they did very well here. Arvira- 
gus's account of himself I always was highly 
pleased with. 

P. 51. — " Fervid" is a bad word. 



LETTER XVII. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, April 23, 1757. 

I too am set down here with something 
greater hopes of quiet than I could entertain 
when I saw you last ; at least nothing new has 
happened to give me any disturbance, and the 
assurances you gave me in your letter from 
hence are pretty well confirmed by experience. 
I shall be very ready to take as much of Mr. 
Delap's * dulness as he chooses to part with at 

* Mr. or Dr. Delap was curate in his earlier life to Mason 
at Aston in 1756. The first entry of his name appears in a 
marriage 14 Nov. 1756, his last signature in May 1758. 
In 1759 he was succeeded by Mr. John Wood. His portrait 
I have seen in the dining-room at Aston rectory, and it 
is now in Mrs. Alderson's possession. There are some 
verses of his writing in Bell's Fugitive Poetry, vol. viii. 
p. 52. He was the author of a tragedy, Hecuba, acted with 
very indifferent success at Drury Lane Theatre in 1762, and 
" The Captives," which was endured for three nights and then 



76 LETTERS OF 

any price he pleases, even with his want of 
sleep and weak bowels into the bargain ; and 
I will be your curate, and he shall live here 
with all my wit and power of learning. Dr. 
Brown's book* (I hear) is much admired in 

was gathered to its fathers. See Boaden's Life of Kemble, 
i. p. 325. Baker mentions hiin and his tragedy in the Bio- 
graphia Dramatica, vol. i. p. 121 ; vol. ii. p. 147; but he 
only knew that he was a clergyman. Some account of Dr. 
Delap's person and conversation may be found in Madame 
D'Arblay's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 201-229, during a visit he paid 
to Mrs. Thrale, at Brighthelmstone. See also vol. ii. p. 421-2, 
&c. In a letter to Dr. Wharton, Gray writes, " Poor Mason is 
all alone at Aston, for his curate is gone to be tutor to some- 
body." His preferments and works may be seen in Nichols's 
Anecdotes, vol. ix. p. 9. 

* This is the well-known " Estimate' of the Manners and 
Principles of the Times," by Dr. John Brown, a book which 
occupied for a time a very large share of public attention and 
applause; several editions were called for in the course of a 
year, and a second volume followed the first. The reader, if 
his curiosity on the author and his works is awakened, may 
consult Walpole's Miscellaneous Letters, vol. iii. p. 352, and 
vol. vi. p. 74; Cavendish's Debates, ii. p. 106; Walpole's 
History of George III. ii. p. 79 ; Smollett's History, ii. p. 289 ; 
and Monthly Review, 1764, part I. p 300; Nichols's Literary 
Anecdotes, ii. p. 211; viii. p. 244; ix. p. 809; and the Bio- 
graphia Britannica, art. Brown (not Browne.) 

This work was well answered by Dr. Wallace of Edin- 
burgh, in the Characteristics of the Present State of Great 
Britain. See also Professor Smyth's Lectures on Modern His- 



THE POET GRAY. 77 

town, which I do not understand. I expected 
it would be admired here ; but they affect not 
to like it, though I know they ought. What 
would you have me do ? There is one thing in 
it I applaud, which is the dissertation against 
trade, for I have always said it was the ruin 
of the nation. I have read the little wicked 
book about Evil,* that settled Mr. Dodsley's 
conscience in that point, and find nothing in it 
but absurdity : we call it Soame Jenyns's, but 
I have a notion you mentioned some other 
name to me, though I have forgotten it. Stone- 

tory, ii. p. 289. There is a similar complaint of the degene- 
racy of the times in Cowpers Task, book ii. (Time Piece.) 

all that we have left is empty talk 



Of old atchievements, and despair of new. 

When Brown complained in this work of the " dry, unaf- 
fecting compositions of the Cambridge Writers, the Critical 
Review asked him if he had not forgotten some of his friends, 
Hurd, Gray, Mason," &c. vol. v. p. 314. — See Monthly Eeview, 
vol. xviii. p. 354-374, for a very severe review of the second 
volume. In the St. James's Mag. 1762, vol. iii. p. 232, is a 
pungent epigram on the Estimate, and on Brown's flattery of 
Warburton, beginning " A vast colossus made of brass," &c. 
Dr. Broivn will be mentioned again. 

* The Origin of Evil, by Soame Jenyns. On this work 
see the Notes to Walpole and Mason's Correspondence, by the 
Editor, vol. i. p. 438-9. The well-known review by Dr. 
Johnson is in every edition of his works. 



78 LETTERS OF 

hewer has done me the honour to send me your 
friend Lord Nuneham * hither, with a fine re- 
commendatory letter written by his own desire, 
in Newmarket-week. Do not think he was 
going to Newmarket; no, he came in a solitaire, 
great sleeves, jessamine-powder, and a large 
bouquet of jonquils, within twelve miles of 
that place, on purpose not to go thither. We 
had three days' intercourse, talked about the 
beaux arts, and Home, and Hanover, and Ma- 
son, — whose praises we celebrate a qui mieux 
mieux, — vowed eternal friendship, embraced, 
and parted. I promised to write you a thousand 
compliments in his name. I saw also Lord 
Villiers and Mr. Spencer, who carried him back 
with them ; en passant, they did not like me at 
all. Here has been too the best of all Johns t 
(I hardly except the Evangelist and the Di- 
vine), who is not, to be sure, a bit like my 
Lord Nuneham, but full as well, in my mind. 
The Duke of Bedford { has brought his son, § 

* Compare Gray's Letter to Dr. Wharton, Apr. 17, 1757, in 
Works, vol. iii. p. 159, ed. Aid. 

■j" Lord John Cavendish. 

\ " The Duke of Bedford is now here to settle his son at 
Trinity, and Mr. Rigby is come to assist them with his ad- 
vice." See Letter to Dr. Wharton, vol. iii. p. 159. 

§ Francis Marquess of Tavistock, of Trinity College, M.A. 
1759; lie died before his father in 1767. 



THE POET GRAY. 79 

aye, and Mr. Rigby too ; they were at church 
on Sunday morning, and Mr. Sturgeon preached 
to them and the heads,* for nobody else was 

present. Mr. P n is not his tutor, t These 

are the most remarkable events at Cambridge. 
Mr. Bonfoy has been here ; he had not done 
what you recommended to him before he came 
out of town, and he is returned thither only the 
beginning of this week, when he assured me 
he certainly would do it. Alas ! what may this 
delay occasion; it is best not to think. Oh 
happy Mr. Delap ! Adieu, my best Mason ; I 
am pleased to think how much I am obliged to 
you, and that, while I live, I must be ever 
yours. 



LETTER XVIII. 
TO THE REY. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR MASON, Cambridge, Tuesday May . ., 1757. 

You are so forgetful of me, that I should not 
forgive it, but that I suppose Caractacus may 
be the better for it ; yet I hear nothing from 

* Roger Sturgeon, M.A. Fellow of Cams, 
■f Perhaps Franklin, who was of that College, and Greek 
Professor in 1750. 



80 LETTERS OF 

him neither, in spite of his promises. There is 
no faith in man, no, not in a Welch-man, and 
yet Mr. Parry has been here and scratched out 
such ravishing blind harmony, such tunes of a 
thousand years old, with names enough to choke 
you, as have set all this learned body a-dancing, 
and inspired them with due reverence for Odikle, 
whenever it shall appear. Mr. Parry (you 
must know) it was that has put Odikle in 
motion again, and with much exercise it has 
got a tender tail grown, like Scroddles, and 
here it is ; if you do not like it, you may kiss it. 
You remember the " Visions of Glory," that 
descended on the heights of Snowdon, and un- 
rolled their glittering skirts so slowly.* 

Antist. 3. 
Haughty knights and barons bold , 
With dazzling helm and horrent spear, 
And gorgeous dames and statesmen old, 
Of bearded majesty, appear; 
In the midst a form divine : 
Her eye proclaims her born of Arthur's line, 
Her lion-port, her awe-commanding face, 
Attemper'd sweet to virgin grace. 
What strings symphonious tremble in the air, 
What strains of vocal transport round her play ! 

* Compare this copy of the unfinished text of The Bard 
with one sent to Dr. Wharton, and which varies from this in 
several places. See Aid. ed. Gray's Works, vol. iii. p. 136, &c. 



THE POET GRAY. 81 

Hear, from the grave, great Taliesin, hear! 
They breathe a soul to animate thy clay. 
Bright Rapture wakes, and, soaring as she sings, 
Waves, in the eye of Heaven her many-coloured wings. 

Epode 3. 

The verse adorn again 

Fierce War and faithful Love, 

And Truth severe, by fairy Fiction drest. 

In mystic measures move 

Pale Grief and pleasing Pain, 

With Horror* wild that chills the throbbing breast. 

A voice, as of the Cherub choir, 

Gales from blooming Eden bear, 

And distant warblings lessen on my ear, 

That lost in long futurity expire. 

Fond, impious man! think'st thou yon sanguine cloud, 

Rais'd by thy breath, has quench'd the orb of day ? 

To-morrow he repairs the golden flood, 

And warms the nations with redoubled ray. 

Enough for me, with joy I see 

The diff'rent doom our Fates assign: 

Be thine Despair, and sceptred Care ; 

To triumph and to die are mine ! 

He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height, 

Deep in the roaring tide he sunk to endless night. f 

* " tyrant of the," in Mason's writing. 

* The Moses of Parmegiano, and Raphael's figure of God 
in the vision of Ezekiel, are said by Mr. Mason to have fur- 
nished Gray with the head and action of his Bard ; if that 
was the case, he would have done 'well to acquaint us with 
the Poet's method of making Placidis coire immitia. — Fuseli's 
Lectures, ii. 

G 



82 LETTERS OP 

I am well aware of many weakly things here, 
but I hope the end will do. Pray give me your 
full and true opinion, and that not upon deli- 
beration, but forthwith, Mr. Hurd * himself 
allows that "lion-port" is not too bold for 
Queen Elizabeth. All here are well, and desire 
their respects to you. I read yesterday of a 
canonry of Worcester vacant in the newspaper. 
Adieu, dear Mason, and believe me most truly 
yours. 

It will not be long before I shall go to 
London. 

* " I asked Mr. Gray, what sort of a man Dr. Hurd was ; 
he answered, ' The last person who left off stiff-topped gloves.'' 
— Norton Nicholls. Hurd, in the later editions of his Com- 
mentary on Horace, suppressed his criticism on the Chinese 
drama, which he had printed at the end of his Commentary 
on the Epistle to Augustus, 1751. I am not aware of Hurd, 
in any passage of his various works, having praised Gray, 
except once, when he is, I presume, alluded to, in Hurd's usual 
manner, without mentioning the name, in his Essay on the 
Marks of Imitation, p. 218, " a certain friend of ours, not to be 
named without honour, and therefore not at all on so slight 
an occasion;" which was, that this friend conjectured that 
Milton's expression of "Grinn'd horrible a ghastly smile," 
was taken from Spenser's " Grinning griesly." Hurd speaks 
also of some " late Odes" in terms of praise. In Dr. Wooll's 
Life of J. Warton there is a letter from Hurd to Mr. Thomas 
Warton, in which he thus mentions the Installation Ode: 
" It is much above the common rate of such things, and will 
preserve the memory of the Chancellor, when the minister is 
forgotten." Lett, lxxxix. p. 348. 



THE POET GRAY. 83 

LETTER XIX. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Cambridge, Saturday, June. 

I send you inclosed the breast and merry- 
thought and guts and garbage of the chicken, 
which I have been chewing so long that I 
would give the world for neck-beef or cow- 
heel. I thought, in spite of ennui, that the 
ten last lines would have escaped untouched ; 
for all the rest that I send you I know is 
weakly, and you think so too. But you want 
them to be printed and done with ; not only 
Mr. Hurd, but Mr. Bonfoy too and Neville* 

* Thomas Neville, of Jesus' College, published Imitations 
of Horace, 1758, and of Juvenal and Persius in 1769. In the 
Horace, p. 93, Mason is mentioned with praise. 

Can Mason days of Gothic darkness grace, 
And not to railings rouse the snarling race ? 
Mason, who writes not with low sons of rhyme, 
But on Pindaric pinions soars sublime. 

Hurd, in his Notes on Horace, vol. i. p. 177, praises Ne- 
ville's elegant Translation of Aristotle's Moral Song "Apera 
iroXvixoyQe. " Its best commendation (he says) is that it 
comes from the same hand which has so agreeably entertained 
us of late with some spirited imitations of Horace." See also 
Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 306 ; iii. 78; ix. 763; 
and Brydges's Eestituta, vol. iii. p. 74. Warburton, in his 

G2 



84 LETTERS OF 

have seen them. Both these like the first Ode 
(that has no tout-ensemble ,) the hest of the two, 
and hoth somehow dislike the conclusion of the 
Bard, and mutter something ahout antithesis 
and conceit in "to triumph, to die," which I 
do not comprehend, and am sure it is altered 
for the better. It was before 

" Lo! to be free to die, are mine." 

If you like it better so, so let it be. It is more 
abrupt, and perhaps may mark the action bet- 
ter ; or it may be, 

" Lo! liberty and death are mine." 

whichever you please. But as to breaking 
the measure, it is not to be thought of; it is 
an inviolable law of the Medes and Persians. 
Pray think a little about this conclusion, for all 
depends upon it ; the rest is of little conse- 
quence. " In bearded majesty," was altered 
to "of" only because the next line begins with 
" In the midst," &c. I understand what you 
mean about "The verse adorn again." You 
may read 

" Fierce War and faithful Love 
Resume their," &c„ 

Correspondence, mentions him frequently, and with respect. 
See Letters cxvii. and cxx. Neville also translated the 
Georgics of Virgil, printed 17G7. 



THE POET GRAY. 85 

But I do not think it signifies much, for there 
is no mistaking the sense, when one attends to 
it. "That chills the throbbing," &c. I dislike 
as much at you can do. " Horror wild," I am 
forced to strike out, because of " wild dismay " 
in the first stanza. What if we read 

" With Horror, tyrant of the throbbing breast." 

Why you would alter " lost in long futurity " 
I do not see, unless because you think "lost" 
and "expire" are tautologies, or because it 
looks as if the end of the prophecy were disap- 
pointed by it, and that people may think that 
poetry in Britain was some time or other really 
to expire, whereas the meaning is only that it 
was lost to his ear from the immense distance. 
I cannot give up " lost," for it begins with an I. 
I wish you were here, for I am tired of 
writing such stuff; and besides, I have got the 
old Scotch ballad on which Douglas was found- 
ed ; it is divine, and as long as from hence to 
Aston.* Have you never seen it ? Aristotle's 

* On this ballad see Bishop Percy's Reliques of Antient 
Poetry, vol. iii. p. 69. He considers that the poem lays claim 
to high antiquity ; it has received considerable modern improve- 
ments, and the whole has undergone a revised. The Bishop's old 
imperfect copy, instead of Lord Barnard has John Stuart, and 
instead of Gil Morrice Child Maurice, which last, he says, is 



86 LETTERS OE 

best rules are observed in it in a manner that 
shows the author never had heard of Aristotle. 
It begins in the fifth act of the play. You may 
read it two-thirds through without guessing 
what it is about ; and yet, when you come to 
the end, it is impossible not to understand the 
whole story. I send you the two first verses : 

Gil Maurice was an Earle's son, 

His fame it wexed wide. 

It was nae for his grete riches, 

Nae for his mickle pride ; 

But it was for a ladie gay 

That lived on Carron's side. 

" Where shall I get a bonny boy 

That will win hose and shoon, 

That will gae to Lord Barnard's ha', 

And bid his ladie come? 

Ye maun rin this errand, Willie, 

And ye maun rin with pride; 

When other boys gae on their feet, 

On horseback ye sal ride," 

" Ah na, ah na, my master dear," &c. &c. 

You will observe in the beginning of this 
thing I send you some alterations of a few 
words, partly for improvement, and partly to 
avoid repetitions of like words and rhymes ; I 

probably the original title. On this ballad the story in 
Home's tragedy of Douglas is founded,, 



THE POET GRAY. 87 

have not got rid of them all. The six last lines of 
the fifth stanza are new ; tell me if they will do. 

I have seen your friend the Dean of S y 

here to-day in the theatre, and thought I 
should have sp-w-d.* I am very glad you 
are to be a court chaplain nevertheless ; for I 
do not think you need be such a one, — I defy 
you ever to be. 

I have now seen your first Chorus, new- 
modelled, and am charmed with it. Now I am 
coming with my hoe. Of all things I like your 
idea of " the sober sisters, as they meet and 
whisper with their ebon and golden rods on 
the top of Snowdon ;" the more because it 
seems like a new mythology peculiar to the 
Druid superstition, and not borrowed of the 
Greeks, who have another quite different moon. 
But yet I cannot allow of the word "nod," 
though it pictures the action more lively than 
another word would do. Yet, at the first blush, 
" See the sober sisters nod," taken alone with- 
out regard to the sense, presents a ridiculous 
image, and you must leave no room for such 
ideas ; besides, a word that is not quite fami- 

* In 1757. See Dodsworth's book on the Cathedral of 
Salisbury, by which it appears — 

1727. John Gierke, D.D. died Feb. 4, 1757, aged 75. 
1757. Thomas Green, D.D. succeeded; died 1780. 



88 LETTERS OP 

liar to us in the sense it is used should never 
form a rhyme ; it may stand in any other part 
of a line. The rest is much to my palate, ex- 
cept a verse (I have it not now before me) 
towards the end. I think it is " Float your 
saffron vestments here," because one does not 
at once conceive that "float" is "let them 
float;" and besides, it is a repetition of the 
idea, as you speak of the " rustling of their 
silken draperies " before, and I would have 
every image varied as the rest are. I do not 
absolutely like "Hist ye all," only because it 
is the last line. These are all the faults I have 
to find ; the rest is perfect. I have written a long 
letter of poetry, which is tiresome, but I could 
not help it. My service to Mr. Delap. Adieu! 
Do write soon ; love and compliments. H. 
p or .r' S # s i s ter Dolly is dead, and he has got 
1,400/., a man, and two horses. I go to town 
next week. If you could write directly, it 
would be clever ; but, however, direct hither, it 
will be sent me, if you cannot write so soon. 

* Richard Forester, a Fellow of Pembroke College, son of 
Poulter Forester, of Broadfield, Herts ; took senior opthne 
degree in 1747-8, afterwards Rector of Passenham, Northamp- 
tonshire. He died in April, 1769. 



TRE POET GRAY. 89 

LETTER XX. 
TO THE KEY, JAMES BROWN.* 

DEAR SIR, Stoke, July 25, 1757. 

I thank you for the second little letter, for 
your Cambridge Anecdotes, and, suffer me to 
say too, for the trouble you have had on my 
account. I am going to add to it, by sending 
you my poetical cargo to distribute ; though, 
whatever the advertisement says, it will not be 
this fortnight yet, for you must know (what 
you will like no more than I do, yet it was not 
in my power any how to avoid it), Mr. Wal- 
pole, who has set up a printing-press in his own 
house at Twickenham, earnestly desired that he 
might print it for Dodsley, and, as there is but 
one hand employed, you must think it will take 
up some time to despatch 2000 copies. As soon 
as may be you will have a parcel sent you, which 
you will dispose of as follows : Mrs. Bonfoy, 
Mr. Bonfoy, Dr. Long, Gaskarth, and all the 
Fellows resident ; Mr. Montagu and Southwell, 
if they happen to be there ; Master of St. John's, t 

* The Rev. James Brown, of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, 
afterwards joint executor with Mason of Gray's will. 

f John Newcome, Master of St. John's, 1734 to 1765. See 
a life of him in Nichols's Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 553-565 ; and 
viii. p. 379. 



90 LETTERS OF 

(I know he is at Rochester, but it suffices to 
send it to his lodge ;) Master of Bennet, # Mr. 
Hurd, Mr. Balguy, Mr. Talbot, Mr. Nourse, 
Mr. Neville of Jesus, Mr. Bickham,f Mr. Had- 
ley, Mr. Newcome. If you think I forget any 
body, pray send it them in my name ; what 
remain upon your hands you will hide in a 
corner. I am sorry to say I know no more of 
Mason than you do. It is my own fault, I am 
afraid, for I have not yet answered that letter. 
His Prussian Majesty wrote a letter to the 
King owning himself in a bad situation, from 
which, he said, nothing but a coup-de-mattre 
would extricate him. J We have a secret expedi- 
tion § going forward ; all I know is, that Lord 

* John Green, Master of Ben'et, 1750 to 1764. Dr. Farmer 
succeeded to his preferments at Lichfield at Green's death 
in 1790, — a prebend, with the chancellorship annexed; and 
see anecdote of him in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. i. 
p. 662. 

■f He was tutor at Emanuel College. See Nichols's Anec- 
dotes, vol. viii. p. 420. 

J See Lacretelle's Histoire, vol. iii. pp. 307, 319; Belsham's 
History, vol. iv. book xn. pp. 304 ; Walpole's George II. vol. 
iii. p. 80, 110, 290 ; see also Wraxall's Memoirs of the Court 
of Berlin, on the extraordinary Campaign of 1757, vol. i. p. 
161, &c. 

§ On this expedition, see Smollett's History of England, 
vol. iv. chap. vn. p. 61 ; Belsham's History, vol. iv. p. 312 ; 



THE POET GRAY. 91 

Ancrani, Sir John Mordaunt, and General Con- 
way are to bear a part in it. The Duke* has 
been very ill, with his leg ; Itanby was sent 
for, but countermanded, the Marshal d'Etrees 
haying sent him his own surgeons. I would 
wish to be like Mr. Bonfoy, and think that 
every thing turns out the best in the world, but 
it won't do, I am stupid and low-spirited, but 
ever yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER XXI. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR MASON, Stoke, Monday, August 1. 

If I did not send you a political Letter forth- 
with, it was because Lord Holdernesse came in 
again t so soon that it was the same thing as if 

Walpole's George II. vol. iii. chap. in. ; Dodington's Diary, p. 
399 ; and note in Gray's Works, vol. iii. p. 179 ; and the 
Grenville Papers, vol. i. p. 224. 

* Duke of Cumberland. 

f See an account of the dismissal and resignation of Minis- 
ters, April 1757, in Walpole's History of George II. vol. iii. 
p. 27. " The next day Lord Holdernesse went to the King 
and resigned the seals, as a declaration of the Newcastle 
squadron against Fox. The King received him ivith the cool 
scorn he deserved. 11 



92 LETTERS OF 

he had never gone out, excepting one little cir- 
cumstance, indeed, the anger of old Priam ; * 
which, I am told, is the reason, that he has not 
the blue riband, though promised him before. 
I have been here this month or more, low-spi- 
rited and full of disagreeablenesses, and, to add 
to them, am at this present very ill, not with 
the gout, nor stone, (thank God,) nor with 
blotches, nor blains, nor with frogs nor with lice, 
but with a painful infirmity, that has to me the 
charms of novelty, but would not amuse you 
much in the description. 

I hope you divert yourself much better than 
I do. You may be sure Dodsley had orders to 
send you some Odes the instant they were off 
the spit ; indeed I forgot Mr. Eraser, so I fear 
they will come to Sheffield in the shape of a 
small parcel by some coach or waggon ; but if 
there is time 1 will prevent it. They had been 
out three weeks ago, but Mr. Walpole having 
taken it into his head to set up a press of his 
own at Twickenham, was so earnest to handsel 
it with this new pamphlet that it was impos- 
sible to find a pretence for refusing such a 
trifle. You will dislike this as much as I do, 
but there is no help ; you understand, it is he 
that prints them, not for me, but for Dodsley. 

* George the Second. 



THE POET GRAY. 93 

I charge you send Hie some Caractacus be- 
fore I die ; it is impossible this weather should 
not bring him to maturity. 

If you knew how bad I was you would not 
wonder I could write no more. Adieu, dear 
Mason ; I am ever most truly yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER XXII. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

Dear Sir, August 14, 1757. 

Excuse me if I begin to wonder a little that 
I have heard no news of you in so long a 
time. I conclude you received Dodsley's packet 
at least a week ago, and made my presents. 
You will not wonder therefore at my curiosity, 
if I inquire of you what you hear said ; for, 
though in the rest of the world I do not expect 
to hear that any body says much, or thinks 
about the matter, yet among mes confreres, the 
learned, I know there is always leisure, at least 
to find fault, if not to commend. 

I have been lately much out of order, and 
confined at home, but now I go abroad again. 



94 LETTERS OF 

Mr. Garrick and his wife* have passed some 
days at my Lady Cobham's,f and are shortly to 
return again ; they, and a few other people that 
I see there, have been my only entertainment 
till this week, but now I have purchased some 
volumes of the great Erench Encyclopedie, and 
am trying to amuse myself within doors. Pray 
tell me a great deal, and believe me ever most 
faithfully yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER XXIII. 
TO MR. HURD. 



Dear Sir, stoke, August 25, 1757. 

I do not know why you should thank me for 
what you had a right and title to ; but attribute 
it to the excess of your politeness, and the more 
so because almost no one else has made me the 
same compliment. As your acquaintance in the 
University (you say) do me the honour to ad- 
mire, it would be ungenerous in me not to give 

* Compare this Letter with one to Dr. Wharton (17 Aug.) 
on the same topics, and nearly in the same language, Works, 
vol. iii. p. 165. 

| At Stoke. 



THE POET GRAY. 95 

them notice that they are doing a very un- 
fashionable thing, for all people of condition are 
agreed not to admire, nor even to understand : 
one very great man, writing to an acquaintance 
of his and mine, says that he had read them 
seven or eight times, and that now, when he 
next sees him, he shall not have above thirty 
questions to ask.* Another, a peer, believes 
that the last stanza of the Second Ode relates 
to King Charles the First and Oliver Cromwell. 
Even my friends tell me they do not succeed, 
and write me moving topics of consolation on 
that head ; in short, I have heard of nobody but 
a player and a doctor of divinity t that profess 
their esteem for them. Oh yes ! a lady of 
quality, a friend of Mason's, who is a great 
reader. She knew there was a compliment to 
Dryden/ but never suspected there was any 
thing said about Shakspeare or Milton, till 
it was explained to her ; and wishes that there 
had been titles prefixed to tell what they were 
about. 

* SeeWalpole's Miscellaneous Letters, vol. iii. pp. 309,813. 
Letter to H. Mann on these Odes, vol. iii. p 234. 

f Garrick and Dr. Warburton. Garrick wrote some verses 
in their praise. See Walpole's Miscellaneous Correspondence, 
vol. v. p. 261. On Warburton's opinion see Gray's Letters 
(Works, vol. iii. pp. 167 and 178.) 



96 LETTERS OF 

Prom this mention of Mason's name you may 
think, perhaps, we are great correspondents ; no 
such thing ; I have not heard from him these 
two months. I will he sure to scold in my own 
name as well as in yours, I rejoice to hear you 
are so ripe for the press, and so voluminous,* — 
not for my own sake only, whom you flatter with 
the hopes of seeing your lahours hoth puhlic 
and private, — hut for yours too, for to be em- 
ployed is to he happy. This principle of mine, 
and I am convinced of its truth, has, as usual, 
no influence on my practice. I am alone and 
ennuye to the last degree, yet do nothing ; indeed 
Ihave one excuse; my health, which you so kindly 
inquire after, is not extraordinary, ever since I 
came hither. It is no great malady, but several 
little ones, that seem brewing no good to me. 

It will be a particular pleasure to me to hear 
whether Content dwells in Leicestershire, f and 
how she entertains herself there; only do not be 

* Alluding probably to the " Moral and Political Dialogues " 
then composing, and published in 1759. 

| Mr. Hurd was settled in Leicestershire February 1G, 
1757, on a College living. See Mason's Elegy IV. to Mr. 
Hurd. 

Whose equal mind could see vain Fortune shower 

Her flowery favours on the fawning crew, 
While in low Thurcastori's sequestered lower 
She fixed him distant from Promotion's view. 



THE POET GRAY. 97 

too happy, nor forget entirely the quiet ugliness 
of Cambridge. I am, dear sir, 

Your friend and obliged humble servant, 

T. Gray. 

If Mr. Brown falls in your way, be so good 
to shew him the beginning of this letter, and it 
will save me the labour of writing the same 
thing twice. His first letter, I believe, was in 
the mail that was robbed, for it was delayed 
many days ; his second I have just received. 



LETTER XXIV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, 

You are welcome to the land of the living, to 
the sunshine of a court, to the dirt of a chap- 
lain's table,* to the society of Dr. Squire f and 

* Mason was appointed, by the Duke of Devonshire, chaplain 
in ordinary to George II. 1757. 

f " And leave Church and State to Charles Townshend and 
Squire" 
is a line which concludes Gray's sketch of his own character. 
See an account of Dr. Squire, in Gray's Works, ed. Aid. vol. i. 
p. 156. He was Fellow of St. John's, Rector of St. Anne's, 
Soho, afterwards Dean of Bristol, and then Bishop of St. 

H 



98 LETTERS OP 

Dr. Chapman. Have you set out, as Dr. Cob- 
den ended, with a sermon against adultery ? or 
do you, with deep mortification and a Christian 
sense of your own nothingness, read prayers to 
Princess Emily* while she is putting on her 

David's ; died 7 May, 1766. See Bishop Newton's Life of 
Himself, p. 78. The well-known saying of Warburton may 
serve to explain Gray's line, quoted above. He told Mr. Allen 
that never bishoprick was so bedeaned, for one (Squire) made 
religion his trade, and the other (Tucker) trade his religion. 
Mr. Cradock, in his Memoirs, has not told the story quite 
correctly; see vol. iv. 335. See on Dr. Squire Harris's Phi- 
losophical Arrangements, p. 247 ; Noble's Continuation of 
Granger, vol. ii. p. 313 ; Nichols's Literary Illustrations, 
vol. v. p. 766 ; Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 625; 
ii. p. 348. He was made Bishop of St. David's 1761. Gray 
writes to Dr. Wharton, " I wish you joy of Dr. Squire's bishop- 
rick ; he keeps back his livings, and is the happiest of devils." 
Dr. Dodd was his Chaplain, and Dr. Squire introduced him in 
the warmest terms to the patronage of Lord Chesterfield ; in a 
sermon dedicated to Mrs. Squire, 1767, Dr. Dodd has given a 
summary of the Bishop's Life and Works. It is extracted 
in Monthly Review, xxxvi. p. 252. See also Dr. King's 
Anecdotes, p. 154, for a violent attack on Squire, on his mean 
birth, &c. &c. On Dr. Chapman, see the note in Lett. in. 

* Compare the anecdote in Walpole's Reminiscences. 
"While the Queen {Caroline) dressed, prayers used to be 
read in the outer room, where hung a naked Venus. Mrs. 
Selwyn, bed-chamber woman in waiting, was ordered one 
day to bid the chaplain, Dr.. Maddox, afterwards Bishop 
of Worcester, begin the service. He said archly, " and a 



THE POET GRAY. 99 

dress ? Pray acquaint me with the whole ceremo- 
nial, and how your first preachment succeeded; 
whether you have heard of any body that re- 
nounced their election, or made restitution to 
the Exchequer; whether you saw any woman 
trample her pompons under foot, or spit upon 
her handkerchief to wipe off the rouge. 

I would not have put another note to save 
the souls of all the owls in London. It is ex- 
tremely well as it is — nobody understands me, 
and I am perfectly satisfied. Even the Critical 
Review* (Mr. Eranklin, I am told), that is rapt 
and surprised and shudders at me, yet mistakes 
the iEolian lyre for the harp of iEolus, which, 
indeed, as he observes, is a very bad instrument 
to dance to. If you hear anything (though it 
is not very likely, for I know my day is over), 
you will tell me. Lord Lyttelton and Mr. 
Shenstone f admire me, but wish I had been a 

very proper altar-piece, Madam." Queen Anne had the same 
custom, and once ordering the door to be shut while she 
shifted, the Chaplain stopped. The Queen sent to ask why 
he did not proceed. He replied, " He would not whistle the 
word of God through the keyhole." 

* See Critical Eeview, vol. iv. p. 167. " Such an instrument 
as the JEolian harp, which is altogether uncertain and irre- 
gular, must be very ill adapted to the dance, which is one 
continued, regular movement," &c. 

f " Mr. Gray, of manners very delicate, yet possessed of a 
H 2 



100 LETTERS OF 

little clearer. Mr. (Palmyra) Wood* owns him- 
self disappointed in his expectations. Your 
enemy, Dr. Brown, t says I am the hest thing in 
the language. Mr. Pox, supposing the Bard 
sung his song hut once over, does not wonder 
if Edward the Pirst did not understand him. 
This last criticism is rather unhappy, for though 
it had heen sung a hundred times under his 
window, it was absolutely impossible King Ed- 
ward should understand him ; hut that is no 
reason for Mr. Pox, who lives almost 500 years 
after him. It is very well ; the next thing I 
print shall be in Welch, — that's all. 

I delight in your Epigram, but dare not show 
it anybody, for your sake; but I more delight to 
hear from Mr. Hurd that Caractacus advances. 
Am I not to see Mador's song ? Could not we 
meet some day, — at Hounslow, for example, 
after your waiting is over ? Do tell me time 
and place. I am most truly yours, 

T. G. 

poetical vein fraught with the noblest and sublimest images, 
and a mind fraught with the more masculine parts of learning." 
— See Shenstone's Essays, vol. ii. 248. 

* A portrait of Mr. Palmyra Wood, by Mengs, is in the 
Bridge water Gallery, No. 121. He accompanied the Duke of 
Bridge water in his travels through Italy. 

| The author of the Estimate. 



THE POET GRAY. 101 

If you write to Lord Jersey, commend me to 
him.. I was so civil to send a book to Lord 
Nuneham, but hear nothing of him. Where is 
Stonhewer ? I am grown a stranger to him. 
You will oblige me by sending to Dodsley's, to 
say I wonder the third and fourth volumes of 
the Encyclopedic are not come. If you chance 
to call yourself, you might inquire if many of 
my 2,000 remain upon his hands. He told me 
a fortnight ago about 12 or 1,300 were gone. 

You talk of writing a comment. I do not 
desire you should be employed in any such 
office ; but what if Delap (inspired by a little 
of your intelligence) should do such a matter ? 
it will get him a shilling ; but it must bear no 
name, nor must he know I mentioned it. 



LETTER XXV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, stoke, Sept. 28, 1757. 

I have, as I desired Stonhewer to tell you, 
read over Caractacus twice, not with pleasure 
only, but with emotion.* You may say what 

* On the drama which excited emotion in Gray, Walpole 
writes, " Mr. Mason has published another drama called 



102 LETTERS OE 

you will, but the contrivance, the manners, the 
interests, the passions, and the expression, go 
beyond the dramatic part of your Elfrida many, 
many leagues. I even say (though you will 
think me a bad judge of this) that the world 
will like it better. I am struck with the Chorus, 
who are not there merely to sing and dance, 
but bear throughout a principal part in the 
action, and have (beside the costume, which is 
excellent) as much a character of their own as 
any other person. I am charmed with their 
priestly pride and obstinacy, when, after all is 
lost, they resolve to confront the Eoman Gene- 
ral, and spit in his face. But now I am going 
to tell you what touches me most. From the 
beginning the first opening is greatly improved. 
The curiosity of Didius is now a very natural 
reason for dwelling on each particular of the 
scene before him, nor is the description at all 
too long. I am glad to find the two young 
men are Gartismandua's sons; they interest me 
far more. I love people of condition. They 
were men before that nobody knew ; one could 

Caractacus. There are some incantations poetical enough, and 
odes so Greek as to have very little meaning. But the whole 
is laboured, uninteresting, and no more resembling the man- 
ners of Britons than of the Japanese," &c. — Misc. Lett. iii. p. 
455. 



THE POET GKRAY. 103 

not make them a bow if one had met them at 
a public place. 

I always admired that interruption of the 
Druids to Evelina, " Peace, Virgin, peace," &c. 
and chiefly the abstract idea personified (to use 
the words of a critic) at the end of it. That of 
" Caractacus would save my Queen," &c, and 
still more, that, " I know it, reverend Pathers, 
'tis heaven's high will," &c. to " I've done, 
begin the rites !" This latter is exemplary for 
the expression (always the great point with 
me) ; I do not mean by expression the mere 
choice of words, but the whole dress, fashion, 
and arrangement of a thought. Here, in parti- 
cular, it is the brokenness, the ungrammatical 
position, the total subversion of the period, that 
charms me. All that ushers in the incantation, 
from " Try we yet what holiness can do," I 
am delighted with in quite another way, for 
this is pure poetry, as it ought to be, forming 
the proper transition, and leading on the mind 
to that still purer poetry that follows it. You 
have somehow mistaken my meaning about the 
sober Sisters : the verb " nod," before " only," 
seemed to be a verb neuter; now you have 
made it absolutely such, which was just my 
objection to it; but it is easily altered, for if the 
accusative case come first, there is no danger of 
ambiguity. I read 



104 LETTERS OF 

See ! their gold and ebon rod 

Where the sober Sisters nod, 

And greet in whispers sage and slow. 

Snowdon, mark ! 'tis Magic's hour ; 

Now the mutter'd spell hath power, 

Power to rift* thy ribs of rock, 

To burst thy base with thunder's shock, 

But, &c. &c. 

Than those that dwell 
In musick's, &c. 

You will laugh at my " these' s" and ' ' those' s," 
hut they strike my ear hetter. What Mador 
sings must he the finest thing that ever was 
wrote ; and the next chorus, where they all go 
to sleep, must he finer still. 

In the beginning of the succeeding act I 
admire the chorus again, t "Is it not now the 
hour, the holy hour," &c. : and their evasion 
of a lie, " Say'st thou, proud boy," &c. : and 
" Sleep with the unsunn'd silver," which is an 
example of a dramatic simile. The sudden ap- 
pearance of Caractacus, the pretended respect 
and admiration of Vellinus, and the probability 

* " rend" in the printed copies. 

f Bishop Hurd, in his remarks on the ancient Chorus, says, 
" It may be sufficient to refer the English reader to the late 
tragedies of Elfrida and Caractacus; which do honour to 
modern poetry, and are a better apology than any I could make 
for the ancient chorus." — See Ilurd's Commentary on Horace, 
vol. i. p. 132. 



THE POET GBAY. 105 

of his story, tlie distrust of the Druids, and 
their reasoning with Caractacus, and particu- 
larly that, " 'Tis meet thou should' st ; thou art 
a king," &c. &c. ; " Mark me, Prince, the time 
will come when destiny," &c, are well and 
happily imagined. Apropos of the last striking 
passage I have mentioned, I am going to make 
a digression. 

When we treat a subject where the manners 
are almost lost in antiquity our stock of ideas 
must needs be small, and nothing betrays our 
poverty more than the returning to and harping 
frequently on one image; it was therefore I 
thought you should omit some lines before, 
though good in themselves, about the scythed 
car, that the passage now before us might appear 
with greater lustre when it came ; and in this, 
I see, you have complied with me. But there 
are other ideas here and there still that occur 
too often, particularly about the oaks, some of 
which I would discard to make way for the rest. 

But the subjects I speak of, to compensate 
(and more than compensate) that unavoidable 
poverty, have one great advantage when they 
fall into good hands : they leave an unbounded 
liberty to pure imagination and fiction (our 
favourite provinces), where no critic can molest 
or antiquary gainsay us. And yet (to please 



106 LETTERS OF 

me) these fictions must have some affinity, 
some seeming connection with that little we 
really know of the character and customs of 
the people. For example, I never heard in 
my days that midnight and the moon were 
sisters, that they carried rods of ehony and 
gold, or met to whisper on the top of a moun- 
tain; hut now, I could lay my life it is all 
true, and do not doubt it will he found so in 
some Pantheon of the Druids that is to he dis- 
covered in the library at Herculaneum. The 
Car of Destiny and Death is a very noble in- 
vention of the same class, and, as far as that 
goes, is so fine, that it makes me more delicate 
than, perhaps, I should he. About the close 
of it, Andraste, sailing on the wings of Eame, 
that snatches the wreaths from oblivion to hang 
them on her loftiest amaranth, though a clean 
and beautiful piece of unknown mythology^ has 
too Greek an air too give me perfect satisfaction. 
Now I proceed. The preparation, to the 
Chorus, though so much akin to that in the 
former act, is excellent. The remarks of Eve- 
lina, and her suspicions of the brothers, mixed 
with a secret inclination to the younger of them 
(though, I think, her part throughout wants 
re-touching), yet please me much ; and the con- 
trivance of the following scene much more. 



THE POET GRAY. 107 

" Masters of wisdom, no," &c. I always ad- 
mired, as I do the rocking- stone and the distress 
of Elidurus. Evelina's examination of him is 
a well-invented scene, and will be, with a little 
pains, a very touching one ; but the introduc- 
tion of Arviragus is superlative. I am not 
sure whether those few lines of his short nara- 
tive, " My strength repaired, it boots not that 
I tell," &c. do not please me as much as any- 
thing in the whole drama. The sullen bravery 
of Elidurus ; the menaces of the Chorus, that 
"Think not, Religion," &c; the trumpet of 
the Druids ; that " I'll follow him, though in 
my chains," &c. ; " Hast thou a brother, no," 
&c. ; the placability of the Chorus when they 
see the motives of Elidurus' obstinacy, give 
me great contentment. So do the reflections 
of the Druid on the necessity of lustration, and 
the reasons for Vellums' easy escape ; but I 
would not have him seize on a spear, nor issue 
hastily through the cavern's mouth. Why should 
he not steal away unmarked and unmissed till 
the hurry of passions in those that should have 
guarded him was a little abated ? But I chiefly 
admire the two speeches of Elidurus : — " Ah ! 
Vellinus, is this thee," &c, and "Ye do gaze 
on me, Eathers," &c. The manner in which 
the Chorus reply to him is very fine, but the 



108 LETTERS OF 

image at the end wants a little mending. The 
next scene is highly moving ; it is so very good 
that I mnst have it made yet better. 

Now for the last Act, I do not know what 
you would have, but to me the design and 
contrivance of it is at least equal to any part 
of the whole. The short-lived triumph of the 
Britons— the address of Caractacus to the 
Roman victims — Evelina's discovery of the 
ambush — the mistake of the Roman fires for 
the rising sun — the death of Arviragus — the 
interview between Didius and Caractacus — his 
mourning over his dead son — his parting speech 
(in which you have made all the use of Tacitus 
that your plan would admit) — everything, in 
short, but that little dispute between Didius 
and him, " 'Tis well, and therefore to increase 
that reverence/ ' &c, down to " Give me a mo- 
ment," (which must be omitted, or put in the 
mouth of the Druid,) I approve in the highest 
degree. If I should find any fault with the 
last Act it could only be with trifles and little 
expressions. If you make any alterations I 
fear it will never improve it, I mean as to the 
plan. I send you back the two last sheets, 
because you bid me. I reserve my nibblings 
and minutiae for another day. Adieu. I am 
most truly yours, T. G. 



THE POET GRAY. 109 

I have had a printed Ode sent me, called 
" Melpomene."* Pray who wrote it ? I suspect 
Mr. Bedingfield, t Montagu, J young Pitt,§ or 
Delap. Do say I like it. 

* See Dodsley's Poems in Anderson's Collection, vol. xi. p. 
76 ; Critical Keview, vol. iv. p. 465. 

j" See Gray's Letter to Dr. Wharton, October 7, 1757. 
" Mr. Bedingfield, in a golden shower of panegyric, writes me 
word, ' That at York races he overheard three people, whom by 
their dress and manner he takes for Lords,' say, " That i" 
was impenetrable and inexplicable." — Works, vol. iii. p. 178. 
In Dodsley's Collection of Poems, vol. iii. p. 119, is a poem, 
" The Death of Achilles," by Mr. Bedingfield. See on him 
a letter of Dr. J. Warton to his brother, 1753, " Give my 
compliments to Bedingfield. I am glad he is emerging into 
life from Hertford College," in Dr. Wooll's Life of Dr. Warton, 
p. 217; and one from Dodsley, " Mr. Bedingfield has actually 
refined his taste to a degree that makes him dissatisfied with 
almost every composition," p. 225 ; and another from him of 
the year 1757 to Dr. Warton, p. 244, on Milton. 

| Frederick Montagu, son of Charles Montagu, of Paple- 
wick, in Northamptonshire. He is mentioned again by Gray 
in Letters, Jan. 1761, vol. iii. p. 262 ; and by Walpole, in 
Memoirs of George III. vol. i. p. 396; " young Thomas Pitt 
and Frederick Montagu, Sandwich's own cousin ;" and see 
Selwyn Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 266, " Fred Montagu sits 
for Higham Ferrers." 

§ Mr. Thomas Pitt, of Boconnock, nephew of Lord Chat- 
ham, afterwards Lord Camelford, died at Florence in 1793. 
See on him Gray's Letter to Dr. Wharton, Jan. 1760. " Mr. 
Pitt, not the great but the little one, is set out on his travels;" 
and, Jan. 1761, " Young Pitt, whom I believe you have heard 



110 LETTERS OF 

LETTER XXVI. 
TO THE KEV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, Friday, Oct. 13, 1757. 

I thank you for your history of Melpomene, 
which is curious and ought to he rememhered ; 
the judgment of knowing ones ought always to 
be upon record, that they may not he suffered 
to retract and mitigate their applause. If I 
were Dodsley I would sue them, and they 

me mention, is returned to England," &c. His only son and 
successor was killed in a duel in 1804, and his daughter was 
married to Lord Grenville in 1792. He is most favourably 
mentioned by Walpole in a letter to Mason. " He is not 
only an ingenious young man, but a most amiable one. He 
has always acted in the most noble style," &c. And in the 
Preface to the Letters of Lord Chatham, which were written 
to him, Lord Grenville says, " The same suavity of manners 
and steadiness of principle, the same trueness of judgment 
and integrity of heart, which characterised him in the first 
dawn of youth, distinguished him through life ; and the same 
affectionate attachment of the people who knew him best, 
has followed him beyond the grave." See also Walpole's Misc. 
Letters, ii. 271, iv. pp. 25, 268, 299; Letters to Mason, vol. 
i. pp. 30, 104; Memoirs of George III. vol. i. pp. 259, 339; 
Grenville Papers, ii. p. 320. He was attached to George 
Grenville, and by him made a Lord of the Admiralty. Lord 
Camelford's Letters (fifty-eight in number) to G. Hardinge are 
printed in the sixth volume of Nichols's Literary Illustrations, 
pp. 83—106. 



THE POET GRAY. Ill 

should buckle my shoe in Westminster Hall. 
What is the reason I hear nothing of your 
waiting, and your performances in public? Ano- 
othef thing, — why hasMr.Hurd's Letter* to you 
never been advertised ? and why do not I hear 
what any body says about it ? 

I go from hence for three days on Wednes- 
day next, and hope your installation will not be 
so over that you should come to Windsor be- 
fore I return ; if I had notice in due time, I 
would meet you at the Christopher in Eton, or, 
if you choose it, — you know the worst, having 
been already here, — shall rejoice to see you at 
Stoke. In town I shall hardly be till next 
month. Our expedition is extremely a VAnglaise, 

* In 1757 Hurd published a Letter to Mason, " on the 
marks of Imitation," which is since incorporated as a dis- 
sertation in his Horace. See this Letter mentioned by Gray 
to Dr. Wharton in Works, Letter lxxiv. vol. iii. p. 177. The 
remarks that appeared against it, anonymously written with 
much acrimony (v. Monthly Review, 1766, i. 474), were by 
Mr. Capell. Hurd maintained through life his friendship for 
Mason, which was formed at college; and at Mason's death, in 
1797, a long and interesting correspondence was returned by 
his executors to the Bishop. In Hurd's paper called " Some 
Occurrences in my Life," is the following entry: " Mr. Mason 
died at Aston, April 5, 1797. He was one of my oldest and 
most respected friends. Very few of this description now re- 
main." Doctor Whitaker truly said, " Bishop Hurd was the last 
survivor of Gray's friends ;" except Mr. Nicholls of Blundeston. 



112 LETTERS OP 

but I have given up all thoughts of England, 
and care for nobody but the King of Prussia. 
Pray do not suffer your megrims to prevail over 
you ; it is good for you that you should come 
to school for a few months now and then. I 
must say no one has profited more in so few 
lessons. Common sense no where thrives better 
than in the neighbourhood of nonsense. Take 
care of your health, and believe me ever yours, 

T. G. 

Send me Elegy,* — my hoe is sharp. 



LETTER XXVIL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, Dec. 19, 1757. 

Though I very well know the bland emollient 
saponaceous qualities both of sack and silver, 
yet if any great man would say to me, " I make 
you Rat-catcher to his Majesty, with a salary of 
£300 a-year and two butts of the best Malaga ; 
and though it has been usual to catch a mouse 

* Mason's " Elegy in the Garden of a Friend." See Gray's 
Works, vol. iii. p. 185, ed. Aid.; and Mason's Works, vol. i. 
p. 100. 



THE POET OKAY. 113 

or two, for form's sake, in public once a year, 
yet to you, sir, we shall not stand upon these 
things," I cannot say I should jump at it ; nay, 
if they would drop the very name of the office, 
and call me Sinecure to the King's Majesty, I 
should still feel a little awkward, and think 
every body I saw smelt a rat about me ; but I 
do not pretend to blame any one else that has 
not the same sensations ; for my part I would 
rather be serjeant trumpeter or pinmaker to the 
palace. Nevertheless I interest myself a little 
in the history of it, and rather wish somebody 
may accept it that will retrieve the credit of 
the thing, if it be retrievable, or ever had any 
credit. Howe was, I think, the last man of 
character that had it. As to Settle, whom you 
mention, he belonged to my lord mayor not to 
the king.* Eusdent was a person of great hopes 

* [This paragraph on " Settle " is omitted in Mason's edi- 
tion; but the whole letter, though of the same date, 19th Dec. 
1757, is composed of the present and the following, with 
numerous additions, omissions, and alterations.] Elkanah 
Settle, born 1646, died 1724; the last of the city poets; for, 
when the Lord Mayors' pageants dropped, the office fell with 
them. He commenced his poetical life by opposing Dryden ; 
and he ended it by writing drolls for Bartholomew Fair. His 
friend, John Dunton, has praised him in his Life, p. 243 ; and 
he still lives embalmed and immortal in the Dunciad of Pope, 
b. i. ver. 90. 

t Appointed poet laureate by Lord Halifax, in 1716. He 

I 



114< LETTERS OF 

in his youth, though at last he turned out a 
drunken parson. Dryden* was as disgraceful to 
the office, from his character, as the poorest 
scribhler could have been from his verses. 
The office itself has always humbled the pro- 
fessor hitherto (even in an age when kings were 
somebody), if he were a poor writer by making 
him more conspicuous, and if he were a good 
one by setting him at war with the little fry of 
his own profession, for there are poets little 
enough to envy even a poet laureat. 

I am obliged to you for your news; pray send 
me some more, and better of the sort. I can tell 
you nothing in return ; so your generosity will 

was rector of Coningsby in Lincolnshire, (which afterwards 
received another poet, the author of the Fleece), where he 
died in 1730. He too appears in company with his brother 
Settle, engaged in no very noble occupation. 

u And Eusden eke out Blackmore's endless line." 
See Dunciad, i. ver. 103, and the note. 

* " Ill-fated Dryden! who unmov'd can see 

The extremes of wit and meanness meet in thee?" 

Brown's Essay on Satire. 
" If Pope thro' friendship fail'd — -indignant view, 
Yet pity Dryden! hark! whene'er he sings, 
How Adulation drops his courtly dew 

On titled rhymers and inglorious kings." — "Mason. 

See Dryden' s character finely and forcibly drawn by Pro- 
fessor Smyth, in Lectures on Modern History, vol. ii. p. 41. 



THE POET GRAY. 115 

be the greater ; — only Dick* is going to give up 
his rooms, and live at Ashwell. Mr. Treasurerf 
sets Sir M. Lamb J at nought, and says he has 
sent him reasons half a sheet at a time ; and 
Mr. Brown attests his veracity as an eye-wit- 
ness. I have had nine pages of criticism on 
the Bard sent me in an anonymous letter, § di- 
rected to the Heverend Mr. G. at Strawberry 
Hill ; and if I have a mind to hear as much 
more on the other Ode, I am told where I may 
direct. He seems a good sensible man, and I 
dare say a clergyman. He is very frank, and 
indeed much ruder than he means to be. Adieu, 
dear Mason, and believe me that I am too. 

* Dick is the Rev. Richard Forester, mentioned before, in 
Letter xix., son of Poulter Forester, Esq. of Broadfield, Herts. 
He vacated his fellowship at the end of the year 1757, and 
went to Ashwell in his own county. 

j" Mr. Joseph Gaskarth was the college treasurer, but the 
subject of his disagreement with Sir M. Lamb does not appear 
to be known. 

J Probably Sir Matthew Lamb, of Brocket Hall, Herts, 
created a Baronet in 1755 ; father of the first Lord Melbourne. 
He died 6 Nov. 1768. See Clutterbuck's Hertfordshire, ii. 
p. 361. 

§ See Gray's Letter to Dr. Wharton, Dec. 8, 1757. The 
writer was a Mr. J. Butler, of Andover. See p. 113, and 
note of the Editor of Gray's Works, vol. iii. p. 181. 



i 2 



116 LETTERS OE 

LETTER XXVIIL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, Jan. 3, 1758. 

A life spent out of the world has its hours of 
despondence, its inconveniences, its sufferings, 
as numerous and as real (though not quite of 
the same sort) as a life spent in the midst of it. 
The power we have, when we win exert it, over 
our own minds, joined to a little strength and 
consolation, nay, a little pride we catch from 
those that seem to love us, is our only support 
in either of these conditions. I am sensible I 
cannot return to you so much of this assistance 
as I have received from you. I can only tell 
you that one who has far more reason than you 
(I hope) will ever have to look on life with 
something worse than indifference, is yet no 
enemy to it, and can look backward on many 
bitter moments partly with satisfaction, and 
partly with patience, and forward too, on a 
scene not very promising, with some hope and 
some expectations of a better day. The con- 
versation you mention seems to me to have 
been in some measure the cause of your reflec- 
tion. As you do not describe the manner 
(which is very essential, and yet cannot easily 



THE POET GRAY. 117 

be described,) to be sure I can judge but very 
imperfectly of it. But if (as you say) it ended 
very amicably, why not take it as amicably ? 
In most cases I am a great friend to eclair- 
cissements ; it is no pleasant task to enter upon 
them, therefore it is always some merit in the 
person who does so. I am in the dark too as 

to what you have said of . To whom, 

where, before whom, how did it come round? 
for you certainly would not do it indiscrimi- 
nately, nor without a little reserve. I do not 
mean on your own account (for he is an object 
of contempt, that would naturally tempt any 

one to laugh, or ■ himself J, but for the 

person's sake with whom you so often are, who 
(merely from his situation) must neither laugh 

nor himself, as you and I might do. Who 

knows ? any little imprudence (which it is so 
pleasant to indulge) might really be disagree- 
able in its consequences to him ; for it would 
be said infallibly, though very unjustly, that 
you would not dare to take these liberties with- 
out private encouragement, at least, that he 
had no aversion to hear in secret what you 
ventured to say in public. You do not ima- 
gine that the world (which always concludes 
wrong about the motives of such minds as it 
has not been used to) will think you have any 



118 LETTERS OP 

sentiments of your own ; and though you (if 
you thought it worth while) might wish to 
convince them of their mistake, yet you would 
not do it at the expense of another, especially 
of this other ; in short, I think (as far as I 
know) you have no reason from this to take 
any such resolution as you meditate. Make 
use of it in its season, as a relief from what is 
tiresome to you, but not as if it was in conse- 
quence of something you take ill ; on the con- 
trary, if such a conference had happened about 
the time of your transmigration, I would defer 
it, to avoid that appearance merely : for the 
frankness of this proceeding has to me an ap- 
pearance of friendliness that one would by no 
means wish to suppress. 

I am ashamed not to have returned Mr. Hurd 
my thanks for his book ; * pray do it for me in 
the civilest manner, and tell him I shall be 
here till April, when I must go for a short 
time to town, but shall return again hither. I 
rejoice to hear he is again coming out, and had 
no notion of his being so ready for the press. 

I wrote to the man (as you bid me), and had 

* It appears by the dates of his life that Hurd printed in 
1757 his " Remarks on Hume's Natural History of Religion;" 
or the book which he gave to Gray might be the new edition 
of his Commentary on Horace. 



THE POET GRAY. 119 

a second criticism ; his name (for I desired to 
know it) is Butler. He is (he says) of the num- 
ber of those who live less contented than they 
ought, in an independent indolence, can just 
afford himself a horse for airings about Hare- 
wood Forest (the scene of Elfrida), half a score 
new books in a season, and good part of half an 
acre of garden-ground for honeysuckles and 
roses. Hid you know that Harewood was near 
Andover ? * I think that you had some friend 
in that neighbourhood, — is it not Mr. Bourne ? 
however, do not inquire, for our correspondence 
is to be a profound secret. Adieu ! I am ever 
truly yours, T. G. 



LETTER XXIX. 
THE EEV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

Hear Mr. Gray, Syon mil, Jan. 5, 1758. 

I send you with your anonymous Criticisms 
the produce of Christmas. But first, as to the 

* Harewood is in Herefordshire, union of Ross, upper divi- 
sion of the hundred of Wormelow. This parish formerly 
belonged to the forest of Harewood, in which Earl Ethelwold 
is supposed to have been assassinated by King Edgar for his 
misconduct to the fair Elfrida. — Parliamentary Gazetteer. 



120 LETTERS OF 

Criticisms. I think just as you do about them; 
yet I have so much good-nature even for a 
critic, that I think I would write to him; 
though on second thoughts it scarce signifies, 
when one reflects what he has said about the 
famished eagle. 

Now be it known unto you, I send you two 
Odes, one so very ancient that all the iEolian 
lyres that ever sounded are mere things of yes- 
terday in comparison. If you have a mind to 
trace my imagery, you will find it all huddled to- 
gether by Keysler, in his " Antiquitates Selectae 
Septentrionales et Celticse."* The book I do 
not doubt is to be met with at Cambridge ; and 
if you have not seen it you need only read his 
second chapter. Eut tell me, may this sort of 
imagery be employed ? will its being Celtic 
make it Druidical ? If it will not, burn it ; if 
it will, why scratch it ad libitum, and send it 
me back as soon as possible. 

The other Ode is as modern as can be wished, 
and is that upon which I trust all my future 
fame will be founded. While Lord Bolingbroke 
stands upon the same shelf with Malebranche 
and Locke, I have no fear but I shall squeeze 
myself between Soame Jenyns and Lord Ches- 

* Published at Hanover in 1728. See Saxii Onomast. Lite- 
rarium, vol. vi. p. 287; Acta Lipsiensia, 1721, April, p. 162. 



THE POET GRAY. 121 

terfield, and I swear I will not give the pas 
to Sir Charles Hanbury. " Well, but who is 
this Mr. Jolliffe ; and how came you acquainted 
with him?" Lord! you are not one of us ; you 
know nothing of life. Why, Mr. Jolliffe is a 
bookseller's son in St. James's Street, who 
takes profiles with a candle better than any 
body. All White's have sat to him, not to 
mention Prince Edward. At first his price was 
only half a crown, but it is now raised to a 
crown, and he has literally got above a hun- 
dred pounds by it. Return it with the other 
Ode, and be sure let nobody see it, except Mr. 
Brown. 

I cannot finish my letter without telling you 
an excellent story of Fobus.* On the death of 

* The name by which Gray and his friends used to 
designate the Duke of Newcastle, though occasionally be- 
stowed on another Lord, as " Lord Radnor, a simple old 
Fobus." See Works, vol. iii. p. 157. " His vanity," says 
Professor Smyth, " and some defects of character, exposed 
him to the ridicule of wits and satirists." See a more impar- 
tial character of him in the Rockingham Memoirs, vol. i. 
pp. 11-13. Mason, then Fellow of Pembroke Hall, wrote the 
Ode on the Installation of the Duke of Newcastle at Cam- 
bridge. It is printed in Dodsley's Collection of Poems, vol. iv. 
p. 269. Gray says, that " Mason's Ode was the only enter- 
tainment that had any tolerable elegance ; and for my own 
part, I think it (with some little abatements) uncommonly 



122 LETTERS OF 

the laureat, Lord Barrington* told him he was 
very glad to find that I was not to succeed, be- 
cause it would be a shame to employ me in 
writing such stuff as birth-day odes. Fobus 
said he did not know me. Lord B. stared, and 
told him he wondered at that, " for that he of 
all people ought to know me." Still Eobus 
was ignorant; in short, Lord B. was obliged 
to rattle the Installation Ode in his ears before 
Eobus would own to the least bit of remem- 
brance. 

Pray tell this story to every body, it is mat- 
ter of fact, and I think to both our credits. 

Adieu ! I would give all I am worth, that is 

well on such an occasion," &c. The Ode is not to be found 
in Mason's collected Works, four vols. 8vo. which were pub- 
lished by his relation Mr. Dixon, though without a name. 
The Monthly Review says, " The Isis, an Elegy, and the Ode- 
were probably suppressed from prudential or political con- 
siderations." See Monthly Review, 1764, vol. i. p. 66. On 
this Installation compare Walpole's Letter to Mason, Misc. 
Lett. vol. ii. p. 286. 

* William Lord Viscount Barrington, who filled many 
public offices, and retired from Parliament in 1778; died Feb. 
1, 1793. See account of him in Kockingham Memoirs, vol. ii. 
p. 190: his Life has been written by his brother, the Bishop 
of Durham. His official career extended over a period of 
twenty-four years. He had been successively Secretary-at- 
War, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Treasurer of the 
Navy. 



THE POET GRAY. 123 

to say, Caractacus and my Ode to Mr. Jolliffe, 
to see an Ode to the King of Prussia by your 
hand. He has certainly taken Breslau, and in 
it 14 general officers and 10,000 prisoners.* 

Yours sincerely. 

To Mr. Jolliffe (who cuts out likenesses from 
the shadow at White's) : — 

Oh thou that on the walls of White's, 

The temple of virtu, 
Of dukes and earls, and lords and knights, 

Portray'st the features true ! 
Hail, founder of the British school ! 

No aids from science gleaning ; 
Let Reynolds blush, ideal fool, 

Who gives his pictures meaning ; 
Of taste or manners let him dream, 

With all his art and care, 
He can but show us what men seem, 

You show us what they are. 
Let connoisseurs of colouring talk, 

What is 't at best but skin ; 
You, Jolliffe, at one master-stroke, 

Display the void within. 
Come, Bob,j" and ope the club-room door, 

And let the Muses follow ; 
By God, they'll lay you six to four, 

They guess each face all hollow. 

* See Belsham's Hist. vol. iv. p. 29 ; Smollett's Hist. vol. iv. 
p. 188. 

f See Walpole and Mason's Correspondency vol. i. p. 



124 LETTERS OF 

" Well, who is this ?" " This sail'd with Byng, 

Minorca's siege to raise ; 
This for surrendering gain'd a string; 

This eat the grapes of Aix ; 
These did to Nova Scotia go, 

Cape Breton's forts to sack, 
And (spite of French and Indian foe), 

Safe brought their shadows back." 
Oh, Jolliffe! may the historic sage 

Thy art and judgment steal, 
And when he draws the present age, 

Still sketch it in profile. 
Or since an honest hand would hate 

Fictitious lights to spread, 
Let him revere Britannia's fate, 

And throw it all in shade. 

131. " Bob, formerly a waiter at White's, was set up by 
my nephew for two boroughs, and actually was returned for 
Castle Rising with Mr. Wedderburne. 

Servus curru portatur eodem.'' 

Walpole's Letters; and vol. ii. p. 132. 

" When Macreath serv'd in Arthur's crew, 
He said to Rumbold, ' Black my shoe ;' 

To which he answered ' Aye, Bob :' 
But when returned from India's land, 
And grown too proud to brook command, 

He sternly answered, ' Nay, Bob.' " 

Sir Robert Macreath had been head waiter at the Cocoa, where 
he was known as " Bob." See Clubs in London, vol. i. p. 145. 
In a letter to Horace Mann, Walpole says, " Lord Oxford 
had borrowed money of him ; brought him into Parliament for 



THE POET GRAY. 125 

LETTER XXX. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, Jan. 13, 1758. 

Why you make no more of writing an Ode, 
and throwing it into the fire, than of buckling 
and unbuckling your shoe. I have never read 
Keysler's book, nor you neither, I believe ; if 
you had taken that pains, I am persuaded you 
would have seen that his Celtic and his septentri- 
onal antiquities are two things entirely distinct. 
There are, indeed, some learned persons who have 
taken pains to confound what Cassar and Tacitus 
have taken pains to separate, the old Druidical 
or Celtic belief, and that of the old Germans, 
but nobody has been so learned as to mix the 

his borough of Castle Rising; and, to excuse it, pretended 
that his mother, Lady Orford, borrowed the money. This 
transaction gave so much offence that Macreath was persuaded 
to sell his seat." — See vol. ii. p. 299. Mr. H. Jesse, in his 
pleasing edition of Selwyn Correspondence, has given a letter 
from Macreath to George Selwyn, April, 1763 — he was the 
proprietor of Whites — announcing that he had quitted business 
entirely, and let his house to Mr. Chambers, his new relative, 
and recommending him to patronage. And see vol. i. p. 216. 
G. Williams mentions him in a letter to G. Selwyn as one of 
the betters in Change Alley on the success of Wilkes, when he 
stood for the City. " Macreath was the ally, and had various 
negotiations." ii. 266. 



126 LETTERS OF 

Celtic religion with that of the Goths. Why, 
Woden himself is supposed not to have been 
older than Julius Caesar ; hut let him have 
lived when he pleases, it is certain that neither 
he nor his Valhalla were heard of till many 
ages after. This is the doctrine of the Scalds, 
not of the Bards ; these are the songs of Hengist 
and Horsa, a modern new-fangled belief in com- 
parison of that which you ought to possess. 
After all, I shall be sorry to have so many 
good verses and good chimseras thrown away. 
Might we not be permitted (in that scarcity of 
Celtic ideas we labour under) to adopt some of 
these foreign whimsies, dropping however all 
mention of Woden and his Valkhyrian virgins, 
&c. ? To settle this scruple of conscience, I 
must refer you to Dr. Warburton: if this should 
be his opinion (which I doubt), then I go on to 
tell you (first premising that a dirge is always 
a funeral service sung over persons already 
dead,) that I would have something striking and 
uncommon in the measures, the rhythm, and the 
expression of this Chorus ; the two former are 
not remarkable here, and the third is so little 
antiquated, that " murky"* and " dank" look 
like two old maids of honour got into a circle 

* " Haste with light spells the murky foe to chase." 

Chor. in Caractacus. 



THE POET GRAY. 127 

of fleering girls and boys. Now for particulars . 
I like the first stanza ; the image of Death in 
arms is very fine and gallant, but I banish 
" free-born train," and " glory and luxury" 
here (not the ideas, but the words), and " liberty 
and freedom's cause," and several small epithets 
throughout. I do not see how one person can 
lift the voice of another person. The imagery 
of the second stanza too is excellent. A dragon 
pecks! why a cock-sparrow might do as much : 
in short, I am pleased with the Gothic Elysium. 
Do not think I am ignorant about either that, 
or the hell before, or the twilight. I have 
been there, and have seen it all in Mallet's In- 
troduction to the History of Denmark (it is in 
Ereneh),* and many other places. " Now they 
charge," &c. looks as if the coursers rode upon 
the men. A ghost does not fall. These are 
all my little objections, but I have a greater. 
Extreme conciseness of expression, yet pure, 
perspicuous, and musical, is one of the grand 

* Northern Antiquities, translated from Mons. Mallet's 
Introduction a V Histoire de Dannemark, 2 vols. 1770. This 
portion is said to be by Bishop Percy. See Foreign Quarterly 
Review, No. rv. p. 478 ; Leyden's Complaynt of Scotland, 
p. 254; Pinkerton on the Goths, p. 100; Nichols's Illustrations 
of Literature, vol. viii. p. 314. A new edition, edited by J. A. 
Blackwell, has been published in Bonn's Antiquarian Library. 



128 LETTERS OF 

beauties of lyric poetry; this I have always 
aimed at, and never could attain; the necessity 
of rhyming is one great obstacle to it : another 
and perhaps a stronger is, that way you have 
chosen of casting down your first ideas care- 
lessly and at large, and then clipping them 
here and there, and forming them at leisure ; 
this method, after all possible pains, will leave 
behind it in some places a laxity, a diffuseness; 
the frame of a thought (otherwise well invented, 
well turned, and well placed) is often weakened 
by it. Do I talk nonsense, or do you understand 
me ? I am persuaded what I say is true in my 
head, whatever it may be in prose, — for I do 
not pretend to write prose. 

I am extremely pleased with your fashionable 
Ode, and have nothing to find fault there, only 
you must say " portray' st " in the first stanza ; 
and " it looks at best but skin," in the fourth, 
is not right. I have observed your orders, but 
I want to shew it everybody. Pray tell me 
when I may have the credit of doing so. I 
have never seen a prettier modernism : let it 
be seen while it is warm. You are in the 
road to fame ; but do not tell your name at 
first, whatever you may venture to do after- 
wards. 

Fobus is a treat ; desire Lord Holdernesse to 



THE POET GRAY. 129 

kiss him on both ears for me. I forgive Lord 
B. for taking the Tudor s for the Restoration. 
Adieu, dear Mason, and remember me; and 
remember too that I have neither company, 
nor pleasure, nor spirits here, and that a letter 
from you stands in all the place of all these. 
Adieu ! 

So you have christened Mr. Dayrolles'* child, 
and my Lady Y.f they say. Oh ! brave Dupp. $ 

* Mr. Dayrolles was the intimate friend and correspondent 
of Lord Chesterfield, and the Resident at the Hague. See 
Chesterfield's Letters in Maty's edition, vol. iv. from 1734 
to 1772, more fully published since by Lord Mahon, pp. 
101 — 367 ; and Walpole's Misc. Letters, vol. ii. p. 189. He 
is also mentioned in Walpole's and Masons Correspondence, 
vol. i. p. 270, on his daughter having eloped with Leonidas 
Glover's youngest son. He was protected by the Richmond 
and Grafton families. From a MS. memorandum of Horace 
Walpole's, relating to Mr. Dayrolles, I find that some scandal 
existed with regard to Mr. Stanhope, to whom he was gentle- 
man at the Hague, and to which Gray silently pointed, in 
his mention of Mr. Dayrolles' child. 

■j" I suppose that Lady Yarmouth is meant. She had 
a son, called Master Louis, but not owned, 1758. See 
Walpole's George H. vol. i. p. 177; and his Misc. Corres- 
pondence, vol. i. Lett. xcix. p. 375 ; and Reminiscences, 
p. 309 ; Works, 4to. vol. iv. p. 309. 

J Thomas Henry, Viscount Dupplin, afterwards Earl of 
Kinnoul. In 1757 Lord Waldegrave says, " I am now 
ordered by the King to notify to Sir Thomas Robinson and 
Lord Dupplin his Majesty's intention of appointing the former 

K 



130 LETTERS OT 

how comes lie to be the Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer ? What is going to he now ? 



LETTER XXXI. 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

Dear Sir, Jan. 16, 1758. 

I believe you are quite right, as you always 
are in these matters. But it is a little hard 
upon my no-reading to believe I have not read 
Keysler. I have, I assure you, and he led me 
into the mistake. He has a chapter on the 
notions the northern nations had of a future 
state. First of all, he talks of the " Metempsy- 
chosis," which everybody allows Druidical (ex- 
cept Pelloutier), and then says, " Illi qui sine 
animarum transmigratione aliam post obitum 
vitam superesse statuebant, duplices primo 
animarum sedes faciebant. Alius enim status 

Secretary of State, and the other Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
.... Lord Dupplin excused himself as not being equal to so 
high an employment, even in times of the greatest tranquillity," 
p. 108. See Grenville Papers, vol. i. p. 190; Rockingham 
Papers, vol. i. p. 146 ; Chesterfield's Letters, vol. iv. p. 202 ; 
Belsham's Hist. vol. i. p. 245 ; Walpole's Mem. of George II. 
vol. i. pp. 63, 328, 383-388; vol. ii. pp. 144, 146; vol. iii. p. 
6 ; add many notices in Walpole's Misc. Correspondence, vol. 
iii. pp. 48,49, 54, 281, 296, &c. 



THE POET GRAY. 131 

erat eorum ante crepuscuhmi deoruru, alius post 
illud." And then goes on to describe his 
" Hell," and his " Valhalla." But Sir William 
Temple set me right about the low date of these 
ideas, before I received yours ; * I have there- 
fore laid aside the Ode, and shall make no use 
of it at all, except perhaps the image of the 
" armed Death," which is my own, and neither 
Scaldic nor Hunic. And as to this nasty Ger- 
man, Keysler, who led me to take all this 
trouble, I will never open him again. The fool 
was a Fellow of the Royal Society — what could 
one expect better from him ? But, after all, I 
do wish indeed that these Odes were all of them 
finished ; and yet, by what you talk of " mea- 
sure, and rhythm, and expression," I think I 
shall never be able to finish them, — never cer- 
tainly at all if I am not to throw out my ideas 
at large ; so, whether I am right or wrong, I 
must have my way in that : therefore talk no 
more about it. Well, you like my other Ode, 
however, so I'll turn wit; though that, according 
to Pope's gradation to plain fool,t should have 

* See Sir W. Temple "Of Heroic Virtue" and "Of 
Poetry," on this subject. 

f Some have at first for wits, then poets passed ; 
Turn'd critics next, and proved plain fools at last. 
Pope's Essay on Criticism, i. p. 35. 

k2 



132 LETTERS OF 

come before poetry. However, as times go, it 
is well it comes anyhow. But hold, I cannot 
part with " poetry" till it has served me a few 
friendly turns ; and when it has done that it 
may go to Pobus, if it pleases, or to the devil. 
One of these friendly turns it has done already, 
and you will have it inclosed, if my excellent 
Eraser transcribes it in time. Let me have 
your strictures speedily, because I want to send 
it to Wood. Take notice, the lines descriptive 
of his garden* are strictly peculiar, andWhite- 

* See Letter xxvi. — See note in Letter xxiv. to which add, 
Mr. Kobert Wood was the author of the Essay on Homer, 
the work on the Ruins of Palmyra, &c. appointed Under 
Secretary of State in 1759 by Mr. Pitt. See Cavendish's 
Debates, p. 9. He died 1771, aged 59, and was buried in 
Putney Church. The inscription on his monument was written 
by Lord Orford. See Chatham Correspondence for his Letters, 
vol. ii. pp. 246 — *249 ; for his writings see ibid. vol. i. p. 432 ; 
see also Walpole's • George III. vol. i. pp. 276, 363, vol. iv. 
pp. 3, 185, 345 ; and Walpole and Mason's Correspondence, 
vol. i. p. 433, with Editor's note. Wood's Essay on Homer 
was published after his death by Jacob Bryant ; for a most 
acute and learned examination of it see Howes's Critical Obser- 
vations on Works Antient and Modern, vol. i. p. 1 — 79 ; 
Hoives is the person whom Dr. Parr, in his Notes to the Spital 
Sermon, calls the Delian Diver, Tov ArjXiov jcoXvjufirjrov, 
p. 109, and see Quarterly Review, No. cxlvi. p. 381. In the 
Preface to the Homer is an entertaining anecdote of Lord 
Granville (Carteret.) Add Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, 



THE POET GRAY. 166 

head, who has seen the place, tells me they are 
the very thing : nothing can be conceived so 
flowery, so fragrant, and so shady as the fore- 
ground, nothing more extensive and riant than 
the offsets. Yet I cannot let this Elegy come 
to you without begging that, as you are stout, 
you will be merciful to it, for I feel for it, 
somehow, as if it was a favourite child; and 
I will give you a hundred Druidical Odes to 
burn in your critical colossus, if you will let 
it live. Lord I I know nothing of Dupp.'s being 
made Chancellor of the Exchequer, unless it is 
a thing of course after he is made Recorder of 
Cambridge. Sure you had your intelligence 
from Mr. Alderman Marshall. Do not believe 
a word what the papers tell you, that the 
child's name was Mary, — 'twas Concubinage ; 
and Dr. Shebbeare is to teach it its catechize. 

Pray, Mr. Gray, why won't you make your 
Muse do now and then a friendly turn ? An 

vol. iii. p. 83; Literary Illustrations, vol. i. p. 144. Dr. E. 
Laurence gives high praise to Wood's explanation of the 
Tpoiral rjeX'toio. Homer's Od. xv. 204. " It seems difficult (he 
says) to determine which is most striking, the simplicity or 
ingenuity of the explanation." See Enoch Transl. p. 199, 
by E. Laurence, LL.D. 

On a work of his on the Troad, of which there were but 
seven copies printed, see Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. iii. 
p. 8, and Bibliotheca Grenvilliana, vol. ii. p. 812. 



134 LETTERS OE 

idle slut as she is ! if she was to throw out her 
ideas never so carelessly it would satisfy some 
folks that I know, but I won't name names, 
and therefore I won't sign all the nonsense I 
have written. 

Do you know if Pelloutier ever published a 
third volume of his " Histoire des Celtes ?" * 
Dr. W. has only sent me two, and I find the 
third was to contain their ceremonials, which 
is all I want. 

Pray direct me to the passage I have seen 
somewhere, like this, "Est genus hominum 
tarn umbratile," &c.f I fancy it would make 
a good motto. If not, " Locus est et pluribus 
umbris," is no bad one. 

% Histoire des Celtes, et particulierement des Gaulois, et des 
Germans, depuis le terns fabuleux, jusqu'a la Prise de Rome 
par les Gaulois, 2 vols. 4to, 1771, published after the author's 
death by Chiniac. The former edition was in two vols. 12mo, 
1740, 1750, Hague. A very high character is given of 
his work by Bar bier in the Bibliotheque d'un Homme de 
Gout, vol. iii. p. 385 ; and see Saxii Onomast. Liter, vol. vii t 
p. 266. Under the name Celts Pelloutier strangely includes 
both Gauls and Germans. 

f Though Cicero more than once alludes to the " Vita um- 
bratilis et delicata," and other authors have the same or 
similar expressions, I do not know where the exact sentence 
which Mason gives is to be found. 



THE POET GRAY. 135 

LETTER XXXII. 
TO THE EEV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAE, MASON, Sunday, Jan. . .,* 1758. 

I am almost blind with, a great cold, and 
should not have written to you to-day if you did 
not hurry me to send back this Elegy. My 
advices are always at your service to take or to 
refuse, therefore you should not call them 
severe. You know I do not love, much less 
pique myself, on criticism, and think even a 
bad verse as good a thing or better than the 
best observation that ever was made upon it. 
I like greatly what you have now sent me, par- 
ticularly the spirit and sentiment of it; the 
disposition of the whole too is natural and 
elegiac. As to the expression, I would venture 
to say (did you not forbid me) that it is some- 
times too easy. The last line I protest against. 
This, you will say, is worse than blotting out 
rhymes. The descriptive part is excellent, 
yet I am sorry for the name of Cutthorpe. I 
had rather Vertumnus and Mora did not appear 
in person. The word " lopt" sounds like a 

* Mason has not given the date of the day of the month 
in this letter ; but as it was on a Sunday subsequent to the 
16th, it must have been either on the 22nd or the 29th, — 
most probably the former. 



136 LETTERS OP 

farmer, or a man of taste. " A mountain hoar," 
" The savage," &c. is a very good line : yet I 
always doubt if this ungrammatical construc- 
tion be allowable; in common speech it is 
usual, but not in writing even prose; and I 
think Milton (though hard pressed by his 
short metre in the Penseroso) yet finds a way to 
bring in his that's, his who's, and his which' s.* 
" Pair unfold the wide-spread," &c. ; " fair," 
is weakly, " wide-spread " is contained in 
" unfold." By " amber mead," I understand 
the yellow gleam of a meadow covered with 
marsh-marigolds and butterflowers, — is it not 
so ? the two first lines (the second espe- 
cially) I do not admire. I read, " Did Pancy 
wake not — refuse one votive strain;" you will 
ask me why ? I do not know. As to votive, it 
is like delegated, one of the words you love. 
I also read, " How well does Memory," &c. — 
for the same no reason. " It all was his," &c. 
I like the sense, but it is not sufficiently clear. 
As to the versification, do not you perceive that 
you make the pause on the fourth syllable in 
almost every other line ? 

* Mason seems to have profited by Gray's judicious cri- 
ticisms. The name u Cutthorpe" does not appear in the printed 
copy. "Pierced" is substituted for "lopped." — "That yon 
wild peak," for u savage peak" &c. 



THE POET GBAY. 137 

Now I desire you would neither think me 
severe, nor at all regard what I say any further 
than it coincides with your own judgment ; for 
the child deserves your partiality; it is a 
healthy well-made boy, with an ingenuous 
countenance, and promises to live long. I 
would only wash its face, dress it a little, make 
it walk upright and strong, and keep it from 
learning paw words. 

I never saw more than two volumes of Pel- 
loutier, and repent that I ever read them. He 
is an idle man of some learning, who would 
make all the world Celts whether they will or 
no. Locus est et pluribus umbris* is a very good 
motto ; you need look no further. I cannot 
find the other passage, nor look for it with 
these eyes. Adieu! dear Mason, I am most 
sincerely yours. 

You won't find me a place like Mr. Wood's. 

Elegy I.f 

" Favour' d steps," useless epithet ! Write 
" choir." Read " rank'd and met." " Cull liv- 

* See Hor. Ep. lib; i. Ep. v. ver. 28. 

" Et nisi lsena prior potior que puella Sabinum 
Detinet, assuniarn, locus est et pluribus umhrisP 
f " To a Young Nobleman (Lord John Cavendish) leaving 
the University, 1753." See Mason's Works, vol. i. p. 93. 



188 LETTERS OE 

ing garlands," &c. too verbose. You love " gar- 
lands which pride nor gains :" odd construc- 
tion. " Genuine wreath — Friendship twine;" 
a little forced. " Shrink" is usually a verb 
neuter ; why not " blight" or " blast "? " Fer- 
vid;" read " fervent." "When sad reflec- 
tion;" read "till sad," &c. " Blest bower," 
" call on ;" read " call we." " In vain to thee;" 
read "in vain to him," and "his" for " thy." 
Oh, I did not see : what will become of 
" thine?" " Timid " read " fearful." " Dis- 
creter part;" "honest part" just before " ex- 
plore." " Yivid," read "warmest." 

There is too much of the Muse here. " The 
Muse's genuine wreath," " the Muse's laurel," 
" the Muse full oft," " the Muse shall come," 
"the Muse forbids," — five times. 

Elegy II.* 

"Laurel-circled;" " laurel- woven " sounds 
better. " Neglect the strings " is somehow 
naked: perhaps 

" That rules my lyre, neglect her wonted strings." 

Head " re-echo to my strain." " His earliest 
blooms " should be " blossoms." " Then to thy 
sight," "to the sight." Read "he pierced." 

* This stands as Elegy III. p. 100, in Mason's Works. 



THE POET GEAY. 139 

"Modestly retire/' I do not like. " Tufts" 
sounds ill. 

"To moral excellence :" a remnant of bad 
books you read at St. John's ; so is the " dig- 
nity of man." 

" Of genuine man glowing," 

a bad line. " Dupe " I do not approve. " Taste " 
too often repeated. 

" From that great Guide of Truth," 

hard and prosaic. 

Elegy III.* 
" Attend the strain," " quick surprise," bet- 

* This is placed as Elegy V. (p. 107,) " On the Death of a 
Lady)," i. e. the beautiful Lady Coventry. In all the eulo- 
gies on her printed in various publications, and illustrated by 
commentators, no one has quoted Shenstone's testimony to her 
beauty, Letter xcin. Nov. 25, 1718. "I first saw my Lady 
Coventry, to whom I believe one must allow all that the world 
allows in point of beauty ; she is certainly the most unexcep- 
tionable figure of a woman I ever saw, and made most of the 
ladies there seem of almost another species." The Morocco 
Ambassador however (no bad judge of beauty) gave the pre- 
ference to Lady Caroline Petersham. See Grenville Papers, 
vol. i. p. 149, and on Lady Coventry's walking in Hyde Park, 
attended for her safety by the King's guards, ibid. p. 309. 
I have seen an original portrait of her at Crome, and of her 
sister the Duchess of Hamilton. 



140 LETTERS OF 

ter than " sweet." " Luxuriant Pancy, pause," 
6 ' exulting leap . ' ' — Read 

" The wint'ry blast that sweeps ye to the tomb." 

" Tho' soon," — query? " His patient stand," 
better before. Read "that mercy." "Trace 
then by Reason's," — blot it out. " Dear as the 
sons," perhaps, " yet neither sons," &c. 

" They form the phalanx," &c. 
11 Is it for present fame ?" 

Prom hence to "peasant's life," the thought 
seems not just, because the questions are fully 
as applicable to a prince who does believe the 
immortality of the soul as to one who does not; 
and it looks as if an orthodox king had a right 
to sacrifice his myriads for his own ambition, 
because they stand a chance of going to heaven, 
and he of going to hell. 

Indeed these four stanzas may be spared, 
without hurting the sense at all. After " brave 
the torrent's roar," it goes on very well. " Go, 
wiser ye," &c; and the whole was before rather 
spun out and weakly.* 

* Gray's remark, that this Elegy is rather spun out unne- 
cessarily, is still true, whatever alterations it may have 
received. But such lines as 

" With hearts as gay and faces half as fair, 



THE POET GRAY. 141 

LETTER XXXIII. 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

Dear Mr. Gray, Aston, Jan. 22, 1758. 

I cannot help sending you a line to desire 
that, if yon can spare a moment from buying 
and selling South Sea Annuities, taking inven- 
tories of old china jars and three-legged stools 
with black feet and grass-green velvet bottoms, 
you would write me word how you do. I ask not 
criticisms, nor hints, nor emendations, — these 
at your leisure, — for my tithes are come in. I 
live within tolerable compass, and therefore I 
care not a fig whether Caractacus goes forth or 
no, even though he should bring me as much as 
Cleone did to my printer; they both begin with 
a 0. which is a good omen. 

Since your last I wrote as you bid me (or to 
speak more grammatically, bad me) to Mr. 
Hurd, and read his answer. He says, " I could 
not but smile at Dr. Wharton's petition. As 

And— 

" Some lovelier wonder soon usurped the place, 
Clias'd by a charm still lovelier than the last," 

would redeem many faults. See a severe and sarcastic review 
of these elegies by " Martinus Scriblerus" in Monthly Review, 
vol. xxvii. p. 485; 1763. 



142 LETTERS OP 

what I had to say of that wretch * was no ex- 
traordinary pass of patience, I may the easier 
be induced to make a sacrifice of it to humanity. 
Yet I promise nothing; there will he time 
enough to think of this, for the publication is 
necessarily delayed by the late accident for 
sometime." 

This accident was no less than the loss of the 
MS. of his last Dialogue on the Constitution, by 
the carelessness of a Leicester bookseller, and he 
is afraid will not be recovered ; if so, hell have it 
all to compose afresh from some loose notes. 
This you will say is a warning for Caractacus, 
and indeed it does not suit his dignity to ride 
post, like a lad newly elected at White's ; he 

* The " wretch " is the poet Akenside (see page 64 ante). 
Akenside had given offence to Warburton by a note in the 
third book of his Pleasures of the Imagination, in which he 
defended Shaftesbury's maxim, that ridicule is the test of 
truth. The term wretch was applied by the Hurd and War- 
burton school to those writers to whom they were opposed. 
Hurd writes to Warburton this very year, (Jan. 1757,) " I 
would give a pack of wretches to understand, that your friends 
can appeal to the Essay as well as they;" and Warburton 
says in an answer, " A wickeder heart than his (Hume's), and 
more determined to do public mischief, I think I never knew." 
See Lett. c. and Kurd's Life of Warburton, p, 64-68, for 
further account. Gray did not like Hume either as a moralist 
or historian. See Works, vol. v. p. 33. 



THE POET GRAY. 143 

shall therefore stay with you, for Hurd is re- 
turning to Thurcaston, and I fancy will come to 
see me ; if not, I will go to see him with my own 
copy, before I think of publishing. I send you 
at the bottom a piece of a new stanza for the 
second Ode. I know not if vou will not think 
the rhymes too antiquated, or whether it is not 
a sort of beauty in the place. 

Most sincerely yours, 

W. Mason. 

Every heath and mountain rude* 
Was mute till then, save from the den 
Where watch'd some Giant proud. 
The heifer, cag'd in craggy pen, 
Lifted her lowings loud ; 
While her fair firstlings' streaming gore 
Distain'd the bone-besprinkled floor. 
Dismal notes ! and answered soon. 

* These lines do not appear in the text of Caractacus. 



1M LETTERS OP 

LETTER XXXIV.* 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, Good Friday, 1758. 

I have full as much ennui as yourself though 
much less dissipation, but I cannot make this 
my excuse for being silent, for I write to you 
pour me desennuyer, though I have little enough 
to say. I know not whether I am to condole 
with you on this Canterbury business, for it is 
not clear to me that you or the Church are any 
great losers by it ; if you are be so good as to 
inform me, and I will be sorry ; however, there 
is one good thing in it, it proves the family are 
mortal. 

You do not seem to discover that Mons. Mal- 
let f is but a very small scholar, except in the 
erudition of the Goths. There are, apropos, two 

* Parts of this letter are taken to form the letter Mason 
printed under the date December 19, 1757. — Gray's Works, 
vol. iii. p. 183. 

f See on this work (the History of Denmark by Mallet,) 
Barbier, Bibliotheque d'un Homme de Gout, vol. iv. p. 150. 
La preface de ce livre merite specialement qu'on s'y arrete. 
C'est un grand tableau," &c. See also Pinkerton on the 
Goths, p. 100; Leyden's Complaynt of Scotland, p. 274; 
Foreign Quarterly Review, iv. p. 478 ; Nichols's Illustrations 
of Literature, vol. viii. p. 314. 



THE POET GKAY. 145 

Dissertations on the Religion and Opinions of 
the Gauls, published in the Memoires de 
1'Acad. des Belles Lettres et des Inscriptions, 
vol. XXIY. 4to. one by the Abbe Eenel, in 
which he would shew that, about Tiberius' and 
Claudius' times the Druids, persecuted and dis- 
persed by the Romans, probably retired into 
Germany, and propagated their doctrines there. 
This is to account for some similitude to the 
Gaulish notions which the religion of Germany 
seems to bear, as Tacitus has described it, 
whereas Julius Caesar makes them extremely 
different, who lived before this supposed disper- 
sion of the Druids; the other by Monsieur 
Ereret, is as to shew the reverse of all this, — that 
there was no such dispersion, no such simili- 
tude, and that, if Caesar and Tacitus disagree, it 
is because the first knew nothing but of those 
nations that bordered on the Rhine, and the 
other was acquainted with all Germany. I do 
not know whether these will furnish you with 
any new matter, but they are well enough 
written and easily read. I told you before, that, 
in a time of dearth, I would venture to borrow 
from the Edda without entering too minutely 
on particulars ; but, if I did so, I would make 
each image so clear, that it might be fully un- 
derstood by itself, for in this obscure mythology 

L 



146 LETTERS OE 

we must not hint at things, as we do with 
the Greek fables, that every body is supposed 
to know at school. However, on second 
thoughts, I think it would be still better to 
graft any wild picturesque fable, absolutely of 
one's own invention, upon the Druid stock ; I 
mean upon those half-dozen of old fancies that 
are known to have made their system : this will 
give you more freedom and latitude, and will 
leave no hold for the critics to fasten on. 

Pray, when did I pretend to finish, or even 
insert passages into other people's works ? as if 
it were equally easy to pick holes and to mend 
them. All I can say is, that your Elegy must 
not end with the worst line in it ; it is flat, it is 
prose ; whereas that above all ought to sparkle, 
or at least to shine. If the sentiment must 
stand, twirl it a little into an apophthegm, stick 
a flower in it, gild it with a costly expression ; let 
it strike the fancy, the ear, or the heart, and I 
am satisfied. 

Hodges is a sad fellow ; so is Dr. Akenside,* 
and Mr. Shenstone, our friends and companions. 

* Gray alludes to the two additional volumes to Dodsley's 
Collection of Poems, which came out in the year 1758, and 
contained his two Odes, and some Poems by Mason, Shenstone, 
Akenside, &c. Gray disliked Akenside, and in general all 
poetry in blank verse, except Milton: see Works, vol. v. p. 36. 



THE POET GRAY. 147 

Your story of Garrick is a good one ; pray is it 

true, and what came of it ? did the tragic poet 

call a guard?* It was I that hindered Mr. Brown 

from sending the pamphlet. It is nonsense, 

and that nonsense all stolen from Dr. Stukeley's 

book about Abury and Stonehenge ; yet if you 

will have it, you may. Adieu, and let me hear 

soon from you. 

I am ever yours, T. G. 



LETTER XXXV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, June 20, 1758. 

I sympathize with your eyes, having been con- 
fined at Florence with the same complaint for 

* This may allude to the disputes with Arthur Murphy- 
regarding The Orphan of China. See Garrick Correspond- 
ence at the end of the year 1757, and Letters, dated 23rd 
February, 1758, and 27th May, 1758. See also Davies's Life 
of Garrick, vol. i. p. 254, and Murphy's Life of Garrick, 
vol. i. p. 331. Dr. Franklin, in his Dissertation on Ancient 
Tragedy, 1760, had a note of the grossest abuse on The 
Orphan of China, in which much malice and rancour were 
shown. See Monthly Review, 1760, vol. xxiii. p. 5. Mason's 
letter, to which this by Gray is an answer, is wanting. Mr. 
Boaden says, " The true secret of Garrick's objections to the 
Orphan of China, Cleone, &c, was that the female interest pre- 
ponderated" See Life of Kemble. 

L 2 



148 LETTERS OF 

three weeks, but (I hope) in a much worse 
degree, for, besides not seeing, I could not sleep 
in the night for pain ; have a care of old women 
(who are all great oculists), and do not let 
them trine with so tender a part. 

I have been exercising my eyes at Peter- 
borough, Crowland, Thorney , Ely, &c. ; am 
grown a great Een antiquary ; this was the 
reason I did not answer you directly, as your 
letter came in my absence. I own I have been 
alL this while expecting Oaractacus, or at least 
three choruses, and now you do not so much as 
tell me it is finished : sure your spiritual func- 
tions, and even your attentions to the Duchess 
of Norfolk and Sir Conyers,* might have allowed 
you some little intervals for poetry ; if not (now 

* The Eight Honourable Sir Conyers d'Arcy, K.B. younger 
son of John Lord D'Arcy, by the Hon. Bridget Sutton, only 
surviving daughter of Robert Lord Lexington. He was ap- 
pointed Master of the' King's Household 1719-20; K.B. 1725; 
Comptroller of the Household and a Privy Counsellor 1730 ; 
Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding during the minority of 
his nephew, Robert Earl of Holdernesse ; M.P. for Richmond 
from 1728 to 1747, and for Yorkshire from 1747 to his death, 
in 1758. " Lady M. W. Montagu. — Her father fell in love 
with Lady Anne Bentinck, who forsook for him Sir Conyers 
Darcy, who had long been her lover, and on whose despair 
Rowe wrote the ballad of ' Colin's Complaint.' " — MS. note by 
Horace Walpole. 



THE POET GRAY. 149 

Queen Hecuba is gone), I utterly despair, for 
(say what you will) it was not retirement, it 
was not leisure, or the summer, or the country, 
that used to make you so voluminous ; it was 
emulation, it was rivalry, it was the collision of 
tragedy against tragedy, that kindled your 
fires, and set old Mona in a blaze. You do not 
say who succeeds her Trojan Majesty ;* it ought 
to be well considered. Let me have none of 
your prosaic curates. I shall have you write 
sermons and private forms, and " heaven's open 
to all men." 

That old fizzling Duke t is coming here again 
(but I hope to be gone first,) to hear speeches 
in his new library, with the Bishop of Bristol, 
to air his close-stool ; they have fitted it up 
— not the close-stool, nor the Bishop, but the 
library, with classes, that will hold anything 
but books, yet books they must hold, and all 
the bulky old Commentators, the Synopses and 
Tractatus Tractatuums, J are washed with white- 

* Dr. Delap, the author of " Hecuba," who had left Mason's 
curacy. See note, p. 72. His Elegies and Koyal Suppliants, 
reviewed in the Monthly Keview. See Index, vol. i. p. 537. 

f Duke of Newcastle. " The old Hubble-bubble Duke" is 
Dr. Warner's expression for the same peculiarity of manner 
which Gray describes by fizzling. — See Selwyn's Corr. iv. 283. 

^ A collection of legal dissertations, " Tractatus universi 



150 LETTERS OP 

of-eggs, gilt and lettered, and drawn up in review 
before his Grace. Your uncle Balguy takes 
his doctor's degree, and preaches the commence- 
ment sermon at Dr. Green's request. 

Mr. Brown sends his love, and bids me tell you 
that Dr. Warburton has sent you his New 
Legation, with its dedication to Lord Mansfield;* 
would you have it sent you ? Lord Strathmore 
goes to-morrow into the North to come of age.f 
I keep an owl in the garden as like me as it 
can stare; only I do not eat raw meat, nor 
bite people by the fingers. This is all the news 
of the place. Adieu, dear Mason ! and write to 
me directly if it will not hurt you, or I shall 
think you worse than you are. I am ever 
yours, 

T. G. 

juris," published by Zilettus, the bookseller at Venice in 
1564, in 18 folio volumes, usually bound in 25, to which there 
are additional volumes of Index, making in all 28 folios. 

* Books i. ii. iii. of The Divine Legation were dedicated to 
Philip Earl of Hardwicke 1754 (new edition.) The Books iv. 
v. vi, were dedicated to William Lord Mansfield in 1765 (new 
edition.) The original Dedications were to the Free Thinkers 
and to the Jews. 

f John, ninth Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, succeeded 
to the title 1755, and died in April 1776; in 1767 he married 
the great heiress, daughter of G. Bowes, Esq. of Streatlam 
Castle, in the western part of the county of Durham. 



THE POET GUAY. 151 

LETTER XXXVI. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, stoke, August 11, 1758. 

I was just leaving Cambridge at the time 
when I received your last letter, and have been 
unfixed and flitting about almost ever since, or 
you had heard of me sooner. You do not 
think I could stay to receive Fobus ; no more 
did Mr. Hurd, he was gone into Leicestershire 
long before. As to uncle Balguy,* pray do him 

* Doctor Thomas Balguy, prebendary of Winchester, and 
archdeacon ; the friend of Warburton and Hurd. See Hurd's 
Life of Warburton, p. 114; Brydges's Restituta, iv. p. 391; 
Nichols's Literary Illustrations, vol. vi. p. 683. " The late 
learned and excellent Dr. Balguy," writes Seward in his 
Anecdotes, iv. p. 198. Dr. Warton in his Dryden, vol. i. p. 
41, thus speaks of his friend: " Dr. Balguy, a man far above 
the narrow vieAvs of party, of an enlarged mind and manly 
spirit, enriched with a variety of solid learning, which he 
always imparted in a style pure and energetic. He refused 
the bishopric of Gloucester, offered him by Lord North. ' The 
bishopric,' he said, ' has cost me one night's rest, and I de- 
termined it should not cost me another." See very high praise 
of him by Dr. S. Parr, in his Warburtonian Tracts, p. 182, 
who considers Balguy as best fitted "to unfold with precision 
the character ofW r arburton." " The history of Warburton (he 
says) in the hands of so consummate an artist, would have 
been a most instructive and interesting work, a -n-eTrXoypdtyia 



152 LETTERS OF 

justice ; he stayed, indeed, to preach the com- 
mencement sermon, but he assured me (in 
secret) it was an old one, and had not one word 
in it to the purpose. The very next morning he 
set out for Winchester, and I do really think 
him much improved since he had his residence 
there ; freer and more open, and his heart less 
set upon the mammon of unrighteousness. 
Apropos, — would you think it ? — Fobus has wit. 
He told Young,* who was invited to supper at 
Doctor L.'s, and made all the company wait for 
him, — " Why, Young, you make but an awk- 
ward figure now you are a bishop ; this time 
last year you would have been the first man 
here." I cannot brag of my spirits, my situa- 
tion, my employments, or my fertility; the 
days and the nights pass, and I am never the 
nearer to anything but that one to which we 
are all tending. Yet I love people that leave 
some traces of their journey behind them, and 
have strength enough to advise you to do so 

Varronis." Balguy left a large and interesting volume of War- 
burton's Correspondence, which is still in MS. For the very 
high estimation in which his authority is held in theology, 
see Hey's Lectures on Divinity, passim. 

* Philip Yonge, Eesidentiary of St. Paul's, consecrated 
Bishop of Bristol 1758 ; translated to Norwich 1761 ; died 1783. 
He resigned the Public Oratorship in 1752. Mentioned in the 
last letter. 



THE POET GRAY. 153 

while you can. I expect to see " Caractacus " 
completed, not so much from the opinion I 
entertain of your industry as from the consi- 
deration that another winter approaches, which 
is the season of harvest to an author; but I 
will conceal the secret of your motives, and 
join in the common applause. The hooks you 
inquire after are not worth your knowledge. 
Parnell* is the dunghill of Irish Grub-street. 
I did hear who Lancelot Templet was, but 

* A posthumous volume of Parnell was published in Dub- 
lin, 1758, since reprinted; see Monthly Review, vol. xix. 
p. 380. Lintot gave Pope fifteen pounds for the copyright of 
Parnell's poems. 

f A name assumed by Dr. Armstrong, the poet and phy- 
sician. See his Miscellanies, vol. ii. p. 131 — 259, first pub- 
lished in 1756; reviewed in Monthly Review, vol. xviii. 
pp. 560 — 568. See also Knowles's Life of Fuseli, p. 59, and 
Campbell's Hist, of Scottish Poetry, 4to, p. 222, Armstrong 
was very intimate with Fuseli, and travelled with him on 
the continent ; experiencing the usual fate of travellers, 
they quarrelled at Genoa, about the pronunciation of a word, 
and parted; but Fuseli visiting Armstrong on his cleath-bed, 
they were reconciled. Smith, in his Life of Nollekens, says, 
Armstrong often noticed Fuseli in the papers of the day with 
praise (see vol. ii. p. 420, Life of Nollekens): and in his 
Sketches, (vol. ii. p. 236, Armstrong's works,) there is a pas- 
sage prophetic of Fuseli's future fame: " This barren age 
has produced a genius, not indeed of British growth, unpa- 
tronised and at present almost unknown, who may live to 



154 LETTERS OF 

have really forgot. I know I thought it was 
Mr. Greville.* Avon is nothing but a type.f 

astonish, to terrify, and delight all Europe." There is a vio- 
lent passage against Armstrong in Churchill's Poems (The 
Journey), vol. iii. p. 229, ed. 1774, 12mo. See Dr. Beattie's 
account of this work of Armstrong in Forbes's Life of Beattie, 
vol. i. p. 203. 

* Author of Maxims, Characters, and Reflections, 1757. 
See account of him in Miss Burney's Memoirs of her Father, 
vol. i. p. 242, vol. ii. p. 101, vol. iii. p. 134; Madame du 
Deffand's Letters, tome i. pp. 67, 72-82 ; Lady W. Montagu's 
Letters, vol. iii. p. 102, ed. WharnclifFe ; Boswell's Johnson, vol. 
viii. p. 305; Walpole's Misc. Lett. vol. iii. p. 210; Jesse's Corr. 
of Selwyn, vol. i. p. 336; and Edinburgh Review, No. cliv. p. 
525. Mrs. Greville was Fanny Macartney, the Flora of the 
Maxims, the author of the Ode to Indifference, and the 
mother of the beautiful Lady Crewe. She is described in the 
Maxims under the character of Flora ; Mr. Greville himself 
under that of Torrismond ; Lord Chatham under Praxiteles. 
Mrs. Montagu figures as Melissa. 

| " Avon," a poem in three parts, 4to. Birmingham, 
printed in the new types of Mr. Baskerville. The Monthly 
Review, 1756, vol. ii. p. 276, says at the end of its notice, 
" We have premised that this work is printed by Mr. Basker- 
ville, who obliged the curious and literary world with a spe- 
cimen of his excellent types in his quarto edition of Virgil. 
The letter in which the Avon is printed, though very beautiful, is 
yet in our opinion inferior to that of the Virgil," &c. The Rev. 
John Cowper, Fellow of Corp. Chr. Cambridge (brother of the 
poet), says in a letter, Jan. 1786, to Mr. Gough, " A little poem 
called ' Avon ' has its merit." See Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, 
viii. p. 562, 



THE POET GRAY. 155 

The Duchess of Queensberry' s advertisement * 
has moved my impatience; yet, after all, per- 
haps she may curl her gray hair with her grand- 
father's golden periods. Another object of my 

* The Public Advertiser, July 10, 1758.— " Whereas a 
spurious, incorrect edition of a work represented to contain the 
history of the reign of his Majesty King Charles the Second, 
from the Restoration to the end of the year 1667, by the late 
Lord Chancellor Clarendon, has been attempted to be imposed 
on the public ; to prevent which, their Graces the Duke and 
Dutchess of Queensberry have preferred a bill in the High 
Court of Chancery, and obtained an injunction to restrain the 
printing and publishing the same ; and, in order to prevent the 
abuse which will arise to the public from such a publication, 
they think it incumbent on them to signify that a correct 
edition from the original manuscript in the hand of Lord 
Chancellor Clarendon, of his Lordship's life, from his birth 
to his banishment (and which includes the history of the Last 
Seven Years attempted to be imposed on the public,) is now 
preparing for the press, and will soon be published, the profits 
of which have been appropriated by the family for a public 
benefaction to the University of Oxford." The Duchess was 
the wife of Douglas third Duke of Queensberry. She was 
the friend of Pope, and patroness and protector of Gay, for 
whom she quarrelled with the Court. She retained in age the 
dress of her youth, which was one of her many eccentricities. 
She died in 1772. See Horace Walpole's Letters, March 2, 
1774; and a Letter from her in the Grenviile Papers, vol. ii. 
p. 424, and note. Her name is preserved in the verse of Pope 
on Gay: 

Of all thy blameless life the sole return, 

My verse and Queensberry weeping o'er thy urn. 



156 LETTERS OF 

wishes is, the King of Prussia's account of the 
Campaign, which Niphausen talked of six weeks 
ago as just coming over, but it is not come ; 
perhaps he waits for a better catastrophe. The 
Twickenham Press is in labour of two or three 
works (not of the printer's own). One of them 
is an Account of Hussia by a Lord Whitworth,* 
who, I think, was minister there from King 
William. 

I seem to have told you all I know, which 
you will think very little, but a nihilo nil Jit. 
If I were to coin my whole mind into phrases 
they would profit you nothing, nor fill a mode- 
rate page. Compassionate my poverty, show 
yourself noble in giving me better than I 
bring, and ever believe me 

Most sincerely yours, 

T. G. 

* This little work was printed at Strawberry Hill in 1758,. 
See Walpole's Misc. Lett. vol. iii. pp. 403, 411. The MS. was 
given by Richard Owen Cambridge, Esq., who had purchased 
Mr. ZohnarCs Library, which related solely to Russian History. 
In the Preface, written by Walpole, some account may be 
found of Lord Whitworth. The title is, " Account of Eussia as 
it was in 1710." See a favourable review of it in Monthly 
Review, xix. pp. 439 — 444 ; but the reviewer, before he 
marked the errata, should have known that blue (the colour) 
was always spelt blew at that time. Thus Gray spelt it in his 
Letters. 



THE POET Git AY. 157 

I find you missed of Stonhewer by going to 
Sir Conyers Darcy's. Can you tell me if he is 
still at Harrowgate, for I do not know how to 
direct to him there ? 



LETTER XXXVII. 
TO THE REV. MR. BROWNE. 

Dear Sir, Sept. 7, 1758. 

It is always time to write (whether Louis- 
bourg* be taken or not), and I am always alike 
glad to hear from you. I am glad however to 
repay you with "the King of Prussia:" there 
is a man for you at a dead lift, that has beat and 
baffled his three most powerful t enemies, who 
had swallowed him up in idea : not that I look 

* " Louisbourg is an important conquest. It will strengthen 
Mr. Pitt, and enable him to struggle more successfully against 
corruption." — Warburton to Hurd, Sept. 3, 1758, Letter cxx. 
It was taken on 27th July, 1758, after forty-nine days' siege. 
See account of it in Mr. Jenkinsons Letter in Grenville 
Papers, i. 258. 

t His three powerful enemies were France, Austria, and 
Russia. " The threats," writes Sir C. Williams, the Ambas- 
sador at Petersburg, " of the three greatest powers in Europe, 
instead of frightening him from his designs, made him exe- 
cute them more easily. His plan and execution of it are 
alike his own." — See Works, iii. p. 106, 



158 LETTERS OF 

upon this last exploit, however seasonable, as 
his most heroic exploit : I suppose it was only 
butchering * a great flock of slaves and savages, 
a conquest that, but for the necessity of it, he 
would have disdained. What use our little 
supply is like to be of in Germany I cannot 
say. I only know that my Lord Granby, with 
his horse, had a bridge which broke under 
them, and that he (the Marquess) was sore 
bruised and laid up; but I think the Electorate 
may be saved for all this. 

Old Pa. wrote to me from Scarborough three 
weeks ago;t he had seen more in his journey 

* This alludes to the King of Prussia's victory over the 
Eussian army at Zorndorf, Aug. 25 ; "as the Prussians gave 
no quarter, the slaughter was terrible." See Smollett, vol. iv. 
pp. 331 — 333; Grenville Papers (Mr. Jenkinson to Mr. Gren- 
ville), vol. i. p. 263 ; also Shenstone's Letters, iii. p. 307. " On 
the regular destruction of 15 or 20,000 wretches on the field; 
Mr. Cambridge was considering the massacre rather in a 
philosophical than political view; and indeed it does not 
appear to me that plague, earthquake, or famine are more 
pernicious to the human race than what the world calls heroes. 11 

| See Gray's Letters, vol. iii. Letter lxxxv. p. 204, Sept. 6, 
1758, to Mr. Palgrave. The Eev. William Palgrave, LL.B. 
1760, of Pembroke College, Cambridge, of an ancient Norfolk 
house, Rector of Palgrave thirty-three years, and of Thrandes- 
ton forty years, both in Suffolk, died suddenly at Brightelm- 
stone, Nov. 5, 1799, aged sixty-four years. He is buried in 
Palgrave church in the chancel, within the altar-rail; a flat 



THE POET ORAY. 159 

than ever lie saw before in his life, and Avas to 
see twice as much more in his way to Glamis. 

stone covers his grave. The rectory house is much altered 
since Palgrave's time. The garden was said to be laid out by- 
Mason, and a sequestered alcove still remains, bearing the 
name of " the Poet's Corner." My late friend the Rev. William 
Alderson was the last survivor of those who personally 
remembered Mr. Palgrave. He used to meet him during his 
visits at Aston, and described him as a person of small sta- 
ture, neat in his appearance, agreeable and clever in conver- 
sation, and a very pleasant companion. He was much 
esteemed by his parishioners at Palgrave, charitable to the 
poor, and performed with care the duties of his parish. A 
little singularity was given to his figure by his head being 
drawn aside towards the shoulder, which was the occasion of a 
ludicrous circumstance still remembered in his parish hap- 
pening to him from a fall when hunting. Mr. Alderson men- 
tioned to the writer of this note one or two specimens of 
his quick and lively repartees, but these eVeo 7rrep6evra, — 
" the winged messengers from mind to mind,'' — lose their 
graces when fixed on paper. Mr. Palgrave's elder brother 
assumed the name of Sayer, and married Miss Tyrrell of Gip- 
ping, afterwards Lady Mary Haselrigge. To his younger 
brother the Rev. William Palgrave, who is the subject of this 
note, it is said Mr. Lawson of Boroughbridge is indebted for 
a small but valuable collection of antiquities collected during 
Mr. Palgrave's travels in Italy with his friend Mr. Weddell 
of Newby (who at that time made the collection of statues 
now belonging to Lord de Grey). Mr. Lawson has also Mr. 
Palgrave's journal, undertaken by Gray's advice. See Gray's 
Letter to Mr. Palgrave on his Tour. " Quoclcumque videris, 
scribe et describe, memoria ne fide," vol. iv. p. 106 : Avhether 



160 LETTERS OE 

He is become acquainted with rocks and pre- 
cipices, and despises the tameness and insipidity 
of all we call fine in the South. Mr. Pitt and 
he did not propose being at Glamis till the end 
of August. 

If I had been at the great gambling dinner, 
I should have desired somebody would help me 
to a collop of the other great turtle, though I 
believe it is vile meat. You tell me nothing 
about the good family at BApton, that were to 
come together from all quarters* and be so 
happy this summer ; has any ill chance hindered 
their meeting, or have you not paid them a 
visit this vacation ? It is an infinite while since 
I heard from Mason ; I know no more of him 
than you do ; but I hope Caractacus will profit 
of our losses ; if pleasure or application take up 
his thoughts I am half content. 

My health I cannot complain of, but as to 
my spirits they are always many degrees below 

the expression in the following precept is classically correct 
may admit a doubt, " Tritum viatorum compitum calca." 
Mr. Palgrave is often mentioned in Walpole's Letters to 
Mason in a very friendly manner. See vol. ii. p. 161, &c. &c. 
* Nicholas Bonfoy, Esq. married Elizabeth, a daughter of 
William Hall, Esq. of King's Walden. She was one of a 
family of ten sons and four daughters ; he resided al Abbot's 
Ripton, in the county of Huntingdon, where the descendants 
are still situated. See note to Letter xi. p 38. 



THE POET GRAY. 161 

changeable, and I seeni to myself to inspire 

everything around me with ennui and dejection ; 

but some time or other all these things must 

come to a conclusion, till which day I shall 

remain very sincerely yours, 

T. G. 

Commend me to any that inquire after me, 
particularly Mr. Talbot. 



LETTER XXXVIII. 
TO THE REV. MR. BROWNE. 

Dear Sir, Oct. 28, 1758. 

You will not imagine me the less grateful for 
the long letter you were so good to write me 
some time since, because I have omitted to 
answer it, especially if you know what has 
since happened. Mrs. Rogers died in the end 
of September ; and what with going to town to 
prove her will and other necessary things, what 
with returning back hither to pay debts, make 
inventories, and other such delightful amuse- 
ments, I have really been almost wholly taken 
up. I might perhaps make a merit even of 
writing now, if you could form a just idea of 
my situation, being joint executor with another 

M 



162 LETTERS OF 

aunt, who is of a mixed breed between 

and the Dragon of Wantley. So much for her. 
I next proceed to tell you that I saw Mason in 
town, who stayed there a day on my account, 
and then set out (not in a huff) with a laudable 
resolution to pass his winter at Aston, and save 
a curate.* My Lordf has said something to him, 
which I am glad of, that looked like an excuse 
for his own dilatoriness in preferring him ; but 
this is a secret. He told me he had seen you, 
and that you were well. Dr. Wharton con- 
tinues dispirited, but a little better than he 
was. The first act of Caractacus is just arrived 
here, but I have not read it over. 

I am very disagreeable; but who can help 
that ? Adieu, my best Mr. Browne ; I am ever 
yours, T. G. 

I shall hardly be at Cambridge before Christ- 
mas. I recollect that it is very possible you 
may have paid my bills ; if so, pray inform me 
what they amount to, that I may send the 
money when I get to London, or sooner, if you 
please. 

* I presume that he did so ; for there appears a vacancy in 
the curacy between Mr. Delap's leaving Aston, and Mr. Wood 
coming in 1759, by the Aston Register. 

| Lord Holdernesse. 



THE POET GRAY. 163 

LETTER XXXIX. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, Stoke, Nov. 9, 1758. 

I should have told you that Caradoc came 
safe to hand, hut my critical faculties have 
been so taken up in dividing nothing with 
"The Dragon of Wantley's Dam,"* that they 
are not yet composed enough for a better and 
more tranquil employment ; shortly, however, 
I will make them obey me. But am I to send 
this copy to Mr. Hurd, or return it to you ? 
Methinks I do not love this travelling to and 
again of manuscripts by the post. While I 
am writing, your second packet is just arrived. 
I can only tell you in gross that there seem to 
me certain passages altered, which might as 
well have been let alone ; and that I shall 
not be easily reconciled to Mador's own song. 
I must not have my fancy raised to that agree- 
able pitch of heathenism and wild magical 
enthusiasm, and then have you let me drop 
into moral philosophy and cold good sense. I 
remember you insulted me when I saw you 
last, and affected to call that which delighted 

* Mrs. Olliffe was " the other aunt," and was joint executor 
with Mr. Gray. See his Letter to Dr. Wharton, lxxxviti. 
vol. iii. p. 210, on this subject. 

M 2 



164 LETTERS OE 

my imagination nonsense. Now I insist that 
sense is nothing in poetry bnt according to the 
dress she wears, and the scene she appears in. 
If you should lead me into a superb Gothic 
building with a thousand clustered pillars, each 
of them half a mile high, the walls all covered 
with fretwork, and the windows full of red and 
blue saints, that had neither head nor tail, and 
I should find the Venus of Medici in person 
perked up in a long niche over the high altar, 
as naked as ever she was born, do you think it 
would raise or damp my devotions ? I say that 
Mador must be entirely a Briton, and that his 
pre-eminence among his companions must be 
shown by superior wildness, more barbaric 
fancy, and a more striking and deeper har- 
mony, both of words and numbers. If 
British antiquity be too narrow, this is the 
place for invention ; and if it be pure inven- 
tion, so much the clearer must the expression 
be, and so much the stronger and richer the 
imagery — there's for you now.* 

I am sorry to hear you complain of your 
eyes. Have a care of candle-light, and rather 
play at hot-cockles with the children than 
either read or write. Adieu ! I am truly and 
ever yours, T. Gr. 

* " The fourth Ode was afterwards new written." — Mason. 



THE POET GRAY. 165 

LETTER XL. 
THR REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

Dear Mr. Gray, 1758. 

I received your last, but, as I had before sent 
you my second Ode, I was iu hopes to have 
heard again, with your particular remarks on 
that. Observe, the second stanza, that is, the 
first antistrophe, I intend to alter on account 
of the sameness of imagery with one in Melan- 
choly; but I hope the rest will stand, some 
words excepted. I will attempt a new Mador' s 
song to please you, but, in niy own mind, I 
would not have him sing there at all on account 
of the tout ensemble, for he sings all the second 
Ode, and also all the fourth, so I am afraid he 
will be hoarse. I like the idea of my fourth 
Ode much, and the preparation to it. It is the 
speech of an Armed Death to the Britons, who 
Mador is supposed to see and hear just at the 
onset of the battle. Thus — 

Chorus , 
but why is this ? 



Why doth our brother Mador snatch his harp 
From yonder bough ? why this way bend his steps ? 



166 LETTERS OF 

Caractacus. 

He looks entranced. The fillet bursts that bound 

His liberal locks; his snowy vestments fall 

In ample folds, and all his floating form 

Doth seem to glisten with divinity. 

Yet is he speechless. Say, thou chief of bards, 

What is there in this airy vacancy 

That thou, with fiery and irregular glance, 

Should scan thus wildly? wherefore heaves my breast? 

Why starts ■ 

Ode. 
Hark ! heard ye not yon footsteps dread, 
That shook the earth with thundering tread? 

'Twas Death ; in haste 

The warrior pass'd ; 
High tower'd his helmed head, 
I mark'd his mail, I xnark'd his shield ; 
I spy'd the sparkling of his spear, 
I saw his giant arm the falchion wield ; 
Courage was in his van and Conquest in his rear.* 

And so it goes on, but without a word of Odin 
and WaJhalla ; yet the general Celtic principle 
of the happiness of dying in battle is touched 
upon, which, I hope, is not in itself too Scaldic. 

* See last Chorus in Caractacus, 

Hark ! heard ye not yon footstep dread, &c. 
But how Death should be wielding at the same time both a 
sword and a spear, is not very easy to determine. 
I spy'd the sparkling of his spear, 
I saw his giant arm the falchion wield. 



THE POET GRAY. 167 

I send you with this another packet, and I 
have another ready to follow it. Then I get to 
my third Ode, and, when that is done, I shall 
have little more than transcription. When you 
have all the MS. I would have you keep it till 
I write ahout sending it to Mr. Hurd ; pro- 
bably we may contrive it without posting. Do 
excuse all this Caractacation. I am seriously 
desirous of getting quit of him, and therefore 
must trouble you till I do. 

Mr. Brown has writ me a long letter about 

keeping my Divinity Act, which, he says, I 

must do next March. Do you say so too ? 

If you do I will incontinently drown myself ; 

till when, 

I remain, sincerely yours, 

W. Mason. 
My eyes, by blistering, are well again. 



LETTER XLI. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, London, Jan. 18, 1759. 

You will think me either dead, or in that 
happy state which is that of most people alive, 
of forgetting every thing they ought to remem- 



168 LETTERS OE 

ber ; yet I am neither one nor the other. I am 
now in town, having taken leave of Stoke, and 
hoping to take leave of my other incumbrances 
in a few months hence. I send you in short 
my opinion of Caractacus, so far, I mean, as I 
have seen of it ; I shall only tell you further, 
that I am charmed with the idea you give me 
of your fourth Ode ; it is excellently introduced, 
and the specimen you send me even sublime. 
I am wrapped in it; but the last line of the 
stanza falls off, and must be changed, " Courage 
was in his van," &c. for it is ordinary when 
compared with the rest ; to be sure, the immor- 
tality of the soul and the happiness of dying in 
battle are Druid doctrines ; you may dress them 
at pleasure, so they do but look wild and British. 
I have little to say from hence but that 
Cleone* has succeeded very well at CoventGar- 

* Written by Dodsley, and acted in 1758 at Covent Garden. 
In a manuscript Letter from Lord Chesterfield to Dodsley on 
the intended performance of this play, he says, " Yon should 
instruct the actors not to mouth out the Y in the name of 
Siffroy, as if they were crying oysters." A high character is 
given of the play in Anderson's Life of Dodsley. It was 
shown to Pope, who advised the extension of its plan, and it 
was praised by Dr. Johnson in terms that seemed to place it 
above Otway. The prologue was written by Melmoth, the 
epilogue by Shenstone. See on this play Davies's Life of 
Garrick, vol. i. p. 251, and She^stone's Letters, vol. iii. xcm. 



THE POET GRAY. 169 

den, and that people who despised it in manu- 
script went to see it, and confess — they cried so. 
Eor fear of crying too I did not go. Poor Smart* 
is not dead, as was said, and Merope t is acted for 
his benefit this week, with a new farce, " The 
Guardian." J Here is a very agreeable opera of 
Cocchi's, the " Cyrus," § which gave me some 

p. 289; and a judicious and fair notice in Monthly Review, 
vol. xix. -p. 582. See also Garrick Correspondence, vol. i. 
p. 79 ; and Boaden's Life of Kemble, vol. i. p. 340. Life of 
Siddons, ii. p. 214; and note in Lett, xxxiv. Dodsley men- 
tions it in a Letter to Dr. Warton as written in 1754. See 
WoolTs Life of Warton, p. 225. 

* See Anderson's Life of Smart. He was admitted of 
Pembroke Hall Oct. 30, 1739, elected Fellow 1745, M. A. 
1747. See Gray's Letter to Dr. Wharton on his works (vol. 
iii. p. 4), written in great kindness to one of the most unfor- 
tunate among the sons of genius. 

f Written by Aaron Hill. See Baker's Biog. Dram. vol. 
ii. p. 230, where a high character is given of this play. It 
was acted in 1749, and said to be chiefly borrowed from the 
Merope of Voltaire. 

^ A farce written by Garrick, acted 1759, in two acts, 
and taken in great measure from the Pupille of Mons. 
Fagan. See Critical Eeview, vol. vii. p. 171. " On doit sur- 
tout regarder ' La Pupille ' comme le chef d'oeuvre de cet 
auteur." See Barbier Bibliotheque, vol. ii. p. 146. 

§ " H Ciro Kiconosciuto " is the title of an opera composed 
by Cocchi, produced at the King's Theatre in 1759, and 
said by Dr Burney to be the best of Cocchi's productions 
during his residence in England. In the British Museum is 



170 LETTERS OF 

pleasure ; do you know I like both Whitehead's 
Odes # in great measure, but nobody else does. 
I hear matters will be made up with the 
Dutch, and there will be no war. The King of 
Portugal f has slily introduced troops into Lis- 
bon, under pretence of clearing away the rub- 
bish, and seized the unsuspecting conspirators 
in their own houses ; they are men of principal 
note, in particular the family of Tavora, who 
have some pretensions to the crown ; and it is 
thought the Jesuits have made use of their 
ambition to execute their own revenge. The 

a copy of the opera in Italian and English, as used in the 
theatre at the time ; and it is curious to observe how mate- 
rially it varies from the text of the Ciro Riconosciuto in the 
modern editions of Metastasio's works. The wording of 
whole scenes is different. 

* "I don't dislike the Laureate at all; to me it is his best 
Ode, but I don't expect every one should find it out; for 
Othbert and Ateste are surely less known than Edward the 
First and Mount Snowdon. It is no imitation of me, but a 
good one of ' Pastor, cum traheret,' &c. which was falsely laid 
to my charge." See Works, vol. iii. p. 212, Lett, lxxxix. 
Gray alludes to the two Laureate Odes for 1758 and 1759. 
See Whitehead's Works, vol. ii. p. 261-267. 

| On this singular conspiracy and attempt at assassination 
see Belsham's History of England, vol. iv. p. 435; vol. v. 
p. 61; Adolphus's Hist. vol. i. p. 60; Smollett, vol. iv. p. 959; 
Walpole's History of George II. vol. iii. p. 141; Misc. Letters 
vol. iii. pp. 402, 432. 



THE POET GRAY. 171 

story of the king's gallantries, and the jealousy 
of some man of quality, who contrived the as- 
sassination, is said to be all false. 

Adieu ! I rejoice to hear you use your eyes 
again. Write to me at Dr. Wharton's, for 
perhaps I may go to Cambridge for some weeks, 
and he will take care I shall have your letter. 



LETTER XLIL 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 
DEAR SlR, Aston, Jan. 25, 1759. 

I sent an impatient letter to you (to use Mr. 
Mincing' s epithet to dinner) at Stoke, and, the 
day after it went, received yours from London, 
with its accompaniment of criticisms, for which 
a thank severally, and ten apiece for every 
emendation, that is to say, every alteration. 
Yet I cannot help thinking that if you had not 
seen the joint critique from Prior Park,* you 
would not have judged so hardly of some of 
my new lines. True I did not think every 
thing that all my critics have remarked neces- 
sary to be altered ; yet I altered them for this 
reason : Critics, like Indians, are proud of the 

* The joint critique of Dr. "Warburtoii and Rev. Mr. Hurd. 



172 LETTERS OE 

number of scalps they make in a manuscript ; 
and if you don't let them scalp, they will do 
you no service. However, it appears I have 
scalped myself in some places, particularly at 
the beginning. Yet I cannot help thinking 
that " chills the pale plain beneath him " is an 
improvement. Yet I can unscalp, if you bid 
me. There is one unfortunate thing which 
attends showing either a marked or an altered 
manuscript, and you yourself prove it to me. 
The person that reads it regards only the marks 
and alterations, and considers whether they are 
right or wrong, and hence a number of faulty 
passages in the gross escape his observation. I 
remember I showed " Caractacus " this sum- 
mer to a certain critic, who read it all over, 
and returned it me with this single observation: 
" I have read it, and I think those faults which 
are marked with a pencil ought to be altered." 
I was surprised at this, because I did not know 
the MS. was marked at all at that time. I 
examined it, and found here and there about 
seven or eight almost invisible little XX. I 
could not conceive who had done it ; I asked 
Delap if he had, and he cried peccavi, assuring 
me he only did it to remember to tell me of 
some minutise which he thought inaccurate; 
but that he thought he had almost made them 



THE POET GRAY. 173 

invisible. So quick- sighted is the eye of a 
critic. But to proceed. I agree to almost all 
your criticisms, however they make against 
me. Yoitf absolution from Mador's song 
makes amends for all. Yet I am sorry about 
the scene between Evelina and Elidurus ; it is 
what the generality will think the principal 
scene, and which yet is not as it should be. 
I am afraid of making it more pathetic, and 
yet if it is not so, it will not satisfy. I send 
you with this my third Ode; you will find 
it must be inserted soon after the descrip- 
tion of the rocking- stone, and the last line of 
the sheet I send you will connect with this, 

" So certain that on our absolving tongues 
Eests not that power may save thee." 

Caractacus, p. 124; Mason's Works. 

so that a few lines must be cancelled in the 
copy you have ; my reason for this change is, 
that I myself thought (and nobody else), that 
a lustration ode would take up too much time 
in the place first intended, and that the action 
went on too slow there. I shall therefore show 
more of Caractacus himself in the scene subse- 
quent to the next I shall send you, and I am 
pretty sure that ftoutes ensembles considered) 
this will be an improvement. As to this Ode, 



174 LETTERS OP 

I do not expect you to like it so well as you do 
the second ; yet I hope it is well enough, and 
will have some effect in the place it conies in. 

Explicit Pars Poesews, 8f incipit Tars Chit- 
tfiatices. — I dare not face Rutherforth,* that 
saintly butcher, in his purple robes of diyinity, 
and therefore, sorely against good Mr. Brown's 
gizzard, I have given up my fellowship, and 
this post carries my civilities to Dr. Long con- 
cerning this great resignation. Indeed, if I 
could dispute black into white, like my uncle 
Balguy, this act would have fallen out too un- 
luckily for me to have thought of keeping it, 
for I am resolved not to set my face southward 
these several months, not even if I publish this 
spring, for I'll either have the sheets sent down 
to me or get somebody in town to correct the 
press. Do you think either Dr. Wharton or 
Stonehewer could be prevailed on to take this 
trouble ? You are perpetually twitting me about 

* Thomas Rutherford, D.D. of St. John's College, Eegius 
Professor of Divinity, 1756, succeeded by Richard Watson, 
D.D. 1771. He was the author, of Natural Philosophy and 
Institutes of Natural Law, and other works, a list of which 
may be seen in the Biographical Dictionary. See Hey's Lec- 
tures on Divinity, vol. i. p. 469; Nichols's Illustrations of 
Literary History, vol. i. p. 134. A copious account of him 
and his works may be seen in the Index to Nichols's Literary 
Anecdotes, vol. vii. p. 362. 



THE POET GRAY. 175 

my motive of gain ; could I write half as well as 
Rousseau I would prove to you that this is the 
only motive any reasonable man should have 
in this matter ; but pray distinguish the matter 
(I mean gain is not my only motive for writing, 
God forbid it should). I write for fame, for 
posterity, and all sort of fine things, but gain 
is my only motive for publishing ; for I publish 
to the present age, whom I would fleece, if I 
could, like any Cossack, Calmuck, or Carcol- 
spack. Now do you understand me, and, if 
you do, don't you agree with me ? This resus- 
citation of poor Smart pains me ; I was in hopes 
he was safe in that state where the best of us 
will be better than we are, and the worst I 
hope as little worse as infinite justice can per- 
mit. But is he returned to his senses ? if so, 
I fear that will be more terrible still. Pray, if 
you can dispose of a guinea so as it will in any 
sort benefit him (for it is too late for a ticket), # 
give it for me. My best regard to Dr. Wharton 
and Mrs. if this finds you there. You will find 
from my last letter that Hurd is disposed to 
gratify the Doctor's humanity. f Have you seen 

* In this year (1759) Garrick made Smart an offer of a 
free benefit at Drury Lane Theatre: he had but lately been 
released from confinement ; to which Mason alludes. 

f See Letter xxxni. p. 135. 



176 LETTERS OF 

Jortin's* " Life of Erasmus?"* was there ever 
such a lumbering slovenly book ? I shall not 
send a packet till I hear again from you ; do 
not be long first. 



LETTER XLIII. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR MASON, Cambridge, March 1, 1759. 

Did I tell you I had been confined in town 
with the gout for a fortnight ? well, and since 
I came hither, it is come again. Yesterday I 
came abroad again, for the first time, in a great 
shoe, and very much out of humour ; and so I 
must return again in three days to town about 
business, which is not like to add much to the 

* On this work see Walpole's Miscellaneous Letters, vol. 
iii. p. 401, who " considers it written with great moderation 
and goodness of heart," and p. 407 ; and Coleridge's Friend, 
vol. i. p. 226. Mr. Barham, in his Life of Reuchlin, says, 
a Jortin has made an amusing book out of the Life of 
Erasmus; though, but superficially versed in the literary 
history of the sixteenth century, he rarely ventures beyond 
the text of Erasmus and Le Clerc without stumbling," p. 251. 
See Monthly Review, vol. xix. pp. 385 — 399, and vol. xxiii. 
pp. 195 — 204, for a severe review of the second volume. 



THE POET GRAY. 177 

sweetness of my temper, especially while stocks 
are so low. 

I did not remember ever to have seen the 
joint criticism* from Prior Park that you speak 
of, so little impression did it make ; nor should 
I believe now that I had ever seen it, did I not 
recollect what a prejudice the parsons expressed 
to human sacrifice, which is quite agreeable 
to my way of thinking ; since Caractacus con- 
vinced me of the propriety of the thing, it is 
certain that their fancies did in no sort influence 
me in the use of my tomahawk. Now you 
must know I do not much admire the chorus 
of the rocking- stone, nor yet much disapprove 
it ; it is grave and solemn, and may pass. I 
insist, however, that " deigns" (though it be a 
rhyme) should be " deign' st," and " fills" 
" fill'st," and " bids" " bid'st." Do not blame 
me, but the English tongue. The beginning of 
the antistrophe is good. I do not like " mean- 
dring way," 

" Where Vice and Folly stray," 

nor the word " sprite." The beginning too of 
the epode is well ; but you have used the epi- 

* Of Hurd and Warburton. See Walpole's Miscell. Letters, 
vol. iii. pp. 465-7. See also p. 171, Letter xlii. 

3ST 



178 LETTERS OE 

thet "pale" before in a sense somewhat similar, 
and I do not love repetitions. The line 

" Or magic numbers " 

interrupts the run of the stanza, and lets the 
measure drop too short. There is no beauty in 
repeating " ponderous sphere." The two last 
lines are the best.* 

The sense of your simile about the " distant 
thunder " is not clear, nor well expressed ; be- 
sides, it implies too strong a confession of guilt. 

The stanza you sent me for the second Ode 
is very rude ; and neither the idea nor verses 
touch me much. It is not the gout that makes 
me thus difficult. Pinish but your Death-song 
as well as you imagined and begun it, and 
mind if I won't be more pleased than anybody. 
Adieu ! dear Mason, I am ever truly yours, 

T. G. 

Did I tell you how well I liked Whitehead's 
two Odes ? they are far better than any thing 
he ever wrote, f 

* By reference to the poem it will be seen that Mason 
adopted some of Gray's proposed alterations and rejected 
others. In the collected edition of Mason's Works, 4 vols, 
8vo. 1811, this chorus will be found, vol. ii. p. 122. 

■f Ode for his Majesty's Birth-day and Ode for the New 
Year, 1759. See Whitehead's Works, vol. ii. pp. 261-7, note. 



THE POET GRAY. 179 

Mr. Brown* and Jemmy Bickham f lament 
your indolence, as to the degree, in chorus ; 
as to me, I should have done just so for all 
the world. 



LETTER XLIV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, April 10, 1759. 

This is the third return of the gout in the 
space of three months, and worse than either 
of the former. It is now in a manner over, 
and I am so much the nearer being a cripple, 
but not at all the richer. This is my excuse 
for long silence ; and, if you had felt the pain, 

* Rev. James Brown, the friend and executor of Gray, was 
Fellow and Tutor of Pembroke College, A.B. 1729, A.M. 
1733, and President, and afterwards Master of the College, 
1770 ; died 1784. Cole, in his Athense Cantab, says of him, 
" He is a very worthy man, a good scholar, small, and short- 
sighted." There is a letter from him to Lord Chatham, giving 
an interesting account of his second son, the great future 
minister, who was placed at his College of Pembroke. — See 
Chatham Corr. vol. iv. p. 311. 

t James Bickham, Fellow of Emanuel College, A.B. 1740, 
A.M. 1744. See Letter xx. p. 84. "Bickham, the junior 
tutor, was a bold man, and had been a bruiser when young." 
See Add. to the Life of R. Farmer in Nichols's Anec. viii. 421. 

N 2 



180 LETTERS OF 

you would think it an excuse for a greater 
fault. I have been all the time of the fit here 
in town, and doubtless ought to have paid my 
court to you and to Garactacus. But a critic 
with the gout is a devil incarnate, and you 
have had a happy escape. I cannot repent (if 
I have really been any hindrance) that you 
did not publish this spring. I would have it 
mellow a little longer, and do not think it will 
lose any thing of its flavour ; to comfort you 
for your loss, know that I have lost above 
200Z. by selling stock. 

I half envy your situation and your im- 
provements (though I do not know Mr. Wood),* 
yet am of your opinion as to prudence; the 
more so because Mr. Bonfoy tells me he 
saw a letter from you to Lady H.,t and that 
she expressed a sort of kindness ; to which my 
Lord added, that he should write a rattling 
epistle to you that was to fetch you out of the 
country. Whether he has or not don't much 
signify : I would come and see them. 

I shall be here this month at least against 
my will, unless you come. Stonhewer is here 
with all his sisters, the youngest of which has 

* The author of the Essay on Homer, 
f Lady Holdernesse. 



THE POET GRAY. 181 

got a husband. Two matches more (but in 
a superior class) are going to be soon : * — Lord 
Weymouth to the Duchess of Portland's homely 
daughter, Lady Betty, with £35,000 ; and 
Lord Waldegrave to Miss Maria Walpole, with 
£10,000. It is impossible for two handsomer 
people ever to meet.f 

All the cruelties of Portugal are certainly 
owing to an amour of the King's (of long 
standing) with the younger Marquess of 
Tavora's wife. $ The Jesuits made their advan- 
tage of the resentments of that family. The 
disturbances at Lisbon are all false. 

This is my whole little stock of news. 

Here is a very pretty opera, the Cyrus ; § and 

* Thomas third Viscount Weymouth on May 22, 1759, 
married the Lady Elizabeth Cavendish Bentinck, eldest daugh- 
ter of William second Duke of Portland. 

f In 1759 he (Lord Waldegrave) married the natural 
daughter of Sir Edward Walpole, a lady of great beauty and 
merit. See Editor's Preface to Waldegrave's Memoirs, p. xv. 
She afterwards married William Henry Duke of Gloucester, 
brother of King George the Third. 

J See note on Letter xli. p. 171. 

§ On the Cyrus, see Burney's History of Music, iv. 476 ; 
an opera of Cocchi, the last of his productions during his resi- 
dence in England. Cocchi used to say of the English taste — 
" E molto particulare, ma gli Inglesi non fanno conto d'alcuna 
cosa, se 1 non e ben pagata. See note, p. 171. 



182 LETTERS OF 

here is the Museum, which is indeed a treasure. 
The trustees lay out 1,400£. a-year, and have 
hut 900Z. to spend. If you would see it you 
must send a fortnight beforehand, it is so 
crowded. Then here are Murdin's Papers,* 
and Hume's History of the Tudors, and Ro- 
bertson's History of Mary Stuart and her son, 
and what not. Adieu, dear Mason. 
I am most faithfully yours, 

t. a 



LETTER XLV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, j u iy 23, 1759. 

I was alarmed to hear the condition you were 
in when you left Cambridge, and, though Mr. 
Brown had a letter to tell him you were 
mending apace while I was there, yet it would 
give me great pleasure to hear more particu- 
larly from yourself how you are. I am just 

* " A Collection of State Papers in the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, from 1571 to 1596, from the Library at Hatfield 
House; by William Murom, &c." folio, 1759. The collection 
is a continuation of that published by Dr. Haynes in 1740 



THE POET GtftAY. 183 

settled in iny new habitation in Southampton 
How ; and, though a solitary and dispirited 
creature, not unquiet, nor wholly unpleasant to 
myself. The Museum will be my chief amuse- 
ment.* I this day passed through the jaws of a 
great leviathan, that lay in my way, into the 
belly of Dr. Templeman,t superintendent of the 
reading-room, who congratulated himself on the 
sight of so much good company. We were,— 
a man that writes for Lord Royston; a man 
that writes for Dr. Burton, of York ; J a third 
that writes for the Emperor of Germany, or 
Dr. Pocock,§ for he speaks the worst English I 
ever heard ; Dr. Stukeley, who writes for hini- 

* Compare Gray's letter to Mr. Palgrave, July 24, 1759, 
Works, vol. iii. p. 219. 

"j" Dr. Peter Templeman held the office of Keeper of the 
Reading-room for the British Museum from its opening in 
1758 till 1761, when he resigned, on being chosen Secretary 
of the Society of Arts, then newly established. Dr. Temple- 
man was a medical man and a learned one ; author of several 
medical works and the translator of Norden's Egypt, to which 
he added notes. He died in 1769. There is a memoir of 
him in Heathcote's Biographical Dictionary, which has been 
noticed by Chalmers. 

J John Burton, M.D. born at York, 1697; died 1771: 
among other works he published Monasticon Eboracense* vol. 
i. York, 1758. folio. 

§ Dr. Richard Pocock, Bishop of Ossory, 1756, and of 
Meath, 1765; published Travels in the East, and other works. 



184 LETTERS OF 

self, the very worst person he could write for ; # 
and I, who only read to know if there were any 
thing worth writing, and that not without some 
difficulty. I find that they printed one thou- 
sand copies of the Harleian Catalogue, and 
have sold four score ; that they have 900/. 
a-year income, and spend 1,300Z., and that they 
are building apartments for the under -keepers, 
so I expect in winter to see the collection adver- 
tised, and set to auction. 

Have you read the Clarendon book ?t Bo you 
remember Mr. Cambridge's J account of it before 
it came out; how well he recollected all the 

* Dr. Stukeley, the well-known antiquary, was the Rector 
of St, George's, Queen Square, near the Museum. He died 
1765. See an account of him in Burke's Landed Gentry, 
part viii. p. 625. 

| Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon, &c. written by him- 
self, was printed in the year 1759, at the Oxford Press, in 
folio and 8vo. See Walpole's Letters, vol. iv. p. 10, and 
Johnson's Idler, No. lxv. 

| On Mr. Cambridge and his habits of conversation, see 
Walpole's Letters to Lady Ossory, vol. i. pp. 132, 140, 410; 
vol. ii. p. 242 ; Walpole to Mason, vol. i. p. 235 ; and 
Nichols's Literary Illustrations, vol. i. p. 130; and Rocking- 
ham Memoirs, vol. i. p. 215, for his Letter to Lord Hardwicke, 
in June, 1765. In conversation he was said to be full of 
entertainment, liveliness, and anecdote. One sarcastic joke 
on Capability Brown testifies his wit, and his Scribleriad still 
survives in the praises of Dr. Warton : yet the radical fault 
that pervades it, is well shown in Annual Review, ii. 584. 



THE POET GRAY. 185 

faults, and howutterlyhe forgot all the beauties ? 
Surely the grossest taste is better than such a 
sort of delicacy. 

The invasion goes on as quietly as if we be- 
lieved every Frenchman that set his foot on 
English ground would die on the spot, like a 
toad in Ireland ; nobody but I and Fobus are in 
a fright about it : by the way, he goes to church, 
not for the invasion, but ever since his sister 
Castleconier* died, who was the last of the brood. 

Moralize upon the death of my Lady Essex, f 
and do write to me soon, for I am ever yours. 

At Mr. Jauncey's, Southampton-row, Blooms- 
bury. I have not a frank in the world, nor 
have I time to send to Mr. Eraser. 

* Sister of the Duke of Newcastle. See Walpole's Misc. 
Correspondence, ii. p 275 ; iii. 467 ; v. pp. 393, 403. Frances, 
2nd daughter of Lord Pelhani, married Christoper Wandesford, 
Viscount Castlecomer ; she died in 1756. Walpole, in a MS. 
note of his, which I possess, says, " The Duke of Newcastle 
is afraid of spirits, and never durst lie in a room alone! This 
is literally true." 

| Lady Essex died in childbirth, July 19, 1759. She was 
daughter of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, K.B. by Lady 
Frances, daughter of Thomas Earl Coningsby. See Walpole's 
Misc. Letters, vol. iii. pp. 67. He attributes her death, but 
wrongly, to another cause; see pp. 465-7. "The gay Lady 
Essex, Gray writes to Dr. Wharton, died of a fever during 
her lying-in." Works, iii. 207. For her gaiety, see Walpole's 
Correspondence, vol. iii p. 272. 



186 LETTERS OF 

LETTER XL VI. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

Dear Sir, Aug. 8, 1759. 

The season for triumph is at last come; I 
mean for our allies, for it will be long enough 
before we shall have reason to exult in any great 
actions of our own, and therefore, as usual, we 
are proud for our neighbours. Contades' great 
army is entirely defeated : # this (I am told) is 
undoubted, but no particulars are known as 
yet; and almost as few of the other victory 
over the Russians, which is lost in the splendour 
of this greater action. So much for war ; and 
now come and see me in my peaceful new set- 
tlement, from whence I have the command of 
Highgate, Hampstead, Bedford Gardens, and 
the Museum ; this last (as you will imagine) 
is my favourite domain, where I often pass four 
hours in the day in the stillness and solitude of 
the reading room, which is uninterrupted by 
anything but Dr. Stukeley the antiquary, who 
comes there to talk nonsense and coffee-house 
news ; the rest of the learned are (I suppose) 

* See Walpole's History of George the Second, vol. iii, 
p. 199, and Lacretelle, Histoire de France, vol. iii. p. 360, for 
an account of the various events and battles of these me- 
morable campaigns. 



THE POET GRAY. 187 

in the country, at least none of them come 
there, except two Prussians, and a man who 
writes for Lord Royston.* When I call it peace- 
ful, you are to understand it only of us visitors, 
for the society itself, trustees and all, are up in 
arms, like the fellows of a college. The keepers 
have broke off all intercourse with one another, 
and only lower a silent defiance as they pass by. 
Dr. Knight t has walled up the passage to the 
little house, because some of the rest were 
obliged to pass by one of his windows in the 
way to it. Moreover the trustees lay out £500 
a-year more than their income; so you may 
expect all the books and the crocodiles will soon 
be put up to auction ; the University (we hope) 
will buy. 

* Afterwards second Earl of Hardwick. It is probable that 
" the man who writes for Lord Royston" was collecting mate- 
rials for the State Papers, from 1750 to 1776, printed in 1778, 
2 vols. 4to. On the connection of Lord Boyston with the 
spurious paper called " The English Mercurie, 1588," see the 
very curious and interesting account by Mr. Thomas Watts, 
in Gent. Mag. May, 1850, p. 485, by whom the discovery of 
the forgery was first made. See his Letter to A. Panizzi, Esq. 
ib. Nov. 1839. 

f Doctor Gowin Knight, M.D. principal librarian of the 
British Museum from 1756 to 1772, when another M.D. 
Matthew Maty, became his successor. Doctor Fothergill once 
made this Doctor Knight a present of a thousand guineas. 



188 LETTERS OF 

I have not (as you silently charge me) forgot 
Mosheim. I inquired long ago, and was told 
there were none in England, but Nourse expects 
a cargo every day, and as soon as it conies, you 
shall have it. Mason never writes, but I hear 
he is well, from Dr. Gisburne. Do not pout, 
but pray let me hear from you, and above all, 
do come and see me, for I assure you I am not 
uncomfortably situated for a lodger ; and what 
are we but lodgers ? Adieu, dear Sir, I am 
ever yours, 

T. G. 

AtMr.Jauncey's, Southampton-row, Blooms- 
bury. 



LETTER XL VII. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

Saturday, Aug. 9, 1759. 

I retract a part of my yesterday's intelli- 
gence, having to-day had an opportunity of 
hearing more, and from the best hand. 

The merit of Prince Ferdinand's policy and 
conduct is not a little abated by this account. 
He made a detachment of 4 or 5,000 men, 
under the hereditary Prince of Brunswick, 
which had got between the main French army 



THE POET GRAY. 189 

and the town of Herwart, where their princi- 
pal magazine lay. The fear they were under 
on that account obliged Contades to begin the 
attack, and he accordingly began his march at 
midnight, in eight columns. Yery early in the 
morning, before the Prince had time to make 
the proper dispositions, they were upon him. 
He had only his first line formed when the battle 
began, and of that line the English infantry 
made a considerable part ; Contades' troops 
(joined by the Duke of Broglio's corps) amount- 
ing to near four- score thousand : the Prince 
had only forty battalions with him, half of 
which only engaged (as I said) for want of 
time. The Prench artillery at first did terrible 
execution, and it was then our four regiments 
suffered so much, 68 of their officers (all, I 
think, below a captain in degree) being killed 
or wounded ; 267 private men killed, and above 
900 wounded. The rest of the line were Hano- 
verians (who behaved very bravely), and, as 
their number was much greater, it is likely 
they suffered still more ; but of their loss I 
have no particular account. In the village 
of Tonhausen, near at hand, were all the Hes- 
sian artillery, which being now turned upon the 
Prench, soon silenced their cannon, and gave an 
opportunity to come to close engagement. The 



190 LETTERS OF 

conflict after tins lasted bnt an hour and a 
quarter. The French made a poor and shame- 
ful resistance, and were dispersed and routed 
on all sides. The Marshal himself (having 
detached a body of men to try if they could 
save or turn Herwart) retreated along the 
Weser toward Bintelen and Corvey, but wrote 
a letter to the Prince to say that, as Minden 
must now soon fall into the hands of his victo- 
rious troops, he doubted not but he would 
treat the wounded and sick (who were all 
lodged there) with his usual humanity. Ac- 
cordingly he entered Minden the next day. 
Eight thousand only of the French were slain 
in the field, twenty pieces of cannon (sixteen- 
pounders) taken, and twelve standards. The 
number of prisoners and the slaughter of the 
pursuit not so great as it might have been, for 
the English horse (though they received orders 
to move) stirred not a foot, nor had any share 
in the action. This is unaccountable, but true ; 
and we shall soon hear a greater noise about it. 
(Lord G. Sackville,)* 

* See Cavendish's Debates, pp. 143, 171; Ellis's Letters on 
English History, 2nd series, iv. p. 413 ; Walpole to Mason, 
iii. p. 338, 371; Walpole's Hist, of George II., vol. iii. pp. 
147, 192, 196, 212, 271; Walpole's Letters to Lady Ossory, 
i. p. 214; Lord Mahon's History, vol. v. p. 429; Belsham's 



THE POET GRAY. 191 

The Prince of Brunswick fell in with the 
party sent towards Herwart, entirely routed it, 
took five pieces of cannon, the town, and all 
the magazines. 

The loss of the Russians is not what has heen 
reported. Their march towards Silesia, how- 
ever, was stopped ; and the King of Prussia is 
gone in person to attack them. 

The story of Durell is all a lie.* 

Lord H.t is hlamed for publishing General 
Yorke's and Mitchell's letters so hastily. 

Hist, of England, vol. iv. p. 399 ; Gray's Works, vol. iii. 
pp. 226, 238 ; Dr. King's Memoirs of his own Time, p. 36. 
It is curious that Walpole in one place speaks of Lord G. Sack- 
ville as " of distinguished bravery;" and indeed his conduct 
looks more like disaffection and discontent and pique than 
cowardice, and seems similar in motive to the conduct of Sir 
Hugh Palisser and Admiral Lestock in like circumstances. 
See Belsham's Hist. iv. 167. The chief witnesses against him 
were Colonel Sloper and Lord Ligonier. A dd Life of Earl of 
Hardwicke, vol. iii. p. 186. " There came on Monday night 
the strangest letter from the Prince (Ferdinand) that I ever 
saw in my life, to press his (Lord G. S.'s) immediate recall ; 
but these orders were gone six days before." See the Monthly 
Eeview, vol. xxi. for account of the innumerable pamphlets, in 
various forms, that appeared on this occasion, 1759. Also 
abridgment of the whole trial in Annual Eegister, 1760, p. 175. 

* In Jan. 1758, Commodore Durell hoisted his broad 
pendant on board the Diana. He went to command the fleet 
at Halifax. 

"j" Lord Holdernesse, one of the Secretaries of State, ap- 



192 LETTERS OF 

Don't quote me for all this Gazette. The 
Prussians have had a very considerable advan- 
tage over General Harsch. 



LETTER XL VIII. 
TO THE REV. WM. MASON. 

Dear Mason, stoke, Oct. 6, 1759. 

If you have been happy where you are, or 
merely better in health for any of your employ- 
ments or idlenesses, you need no apologies with 

pointed June 21, 1751; in March, 1761, succeeded the Earl 
of Bute: see a letter of Joseph Yorke, in the London Gazette 
Extraordinary, Aug. 8, 1759. I do not see any letter of 
Mitchell's in the Gazettes for 1759 or 1760, or in the Annual 
Register of that time. The battle of Minden took place 
Aug. 1. 1759. See interesting account of Mr. Mitchell, our 
Minister at the Court of Berlin, afterwards Sir And. Mitchell, 
KB,, in Thiebault, Vie de Frederic, vol. iii p. 284, &c. ; he 
died at Berlin of a dropsy, 1771, the consequence of a cold, 
and was succeeded by Mr. Elliott, Lord Minto's brother. His 
ready and caustic answer to Frederic will not be forgotten. 
The king was mentioning to him our losses at Port Mahon, 
and said we had made a bad campaign. Mitchell answered, 
" Avec l'aide de Dieu nous en ferons une plus heureuse." . 
" Avec l'aide de Dieu ? Je ne vous connais pas cet allie la J" 
" C'est cependant, Sire, celui qui nous coute le moins." A selec- 
tion from his Letters has been recently published. 



THE POET GRAY. 193 

me : my end is answered, and I am satisfied. 
One goes to school to the world some time 
before one learns precisely how long a visit 
ought to last. At this day I do not pretend to 
know it exactly, and very often find out (when 
it is too late) that I have stayed half an hour 
too long. I shall not wonder, therefore, if 
your friend should make a mistake of half a 
year, if your occasions did not call you to town 
sooner. When you come I should hope you 
would stay the winter, but can advise nothing 
in a point where my own interest is so much 
concerned. Pray let me know of your arrival 
immediately, that I may cut short my visita- 
tion here, or at least (if you are taken up 
always at Syon,* or Kensington) may meet you 
at Hounslow,t or at Billy Robinson's, J or some- 

* Syon, or Sion Hill, near Brentford, then the residence 
of Lord Holdernesse, since pulled down; Kensington, where 
Mason resided during the period of residence as chaplain to 
the king. See Walpole's Misc. Letters, iv. pp. 68, 150. 

■f He may mean Mr. Walpole's residence, for in one of his 
letters Walpole says, " I live within two miles of Hounslow;" 
vol. v. 135. And in another letter he says, " I expect Mr. 
Gray and Mr. Mason to pass the day with me." Long after 
this time there was only & ferry-boat between Twickenham and 
Eichmond, and Walpole's usual road to London must have 
been through Isleworth and Brentford, by the Hounslow road. 

% Billy Robinson was his friend the Rev. William Robinson , 
of Denton in Kent. See account of him from the communi- 

O 



194 LETTERS OF 

where. My only employment and amusement 
in town (where I have continued all the sum- 
mer, till Michaelmas) has heen the Museum; 
but I have been rather historically than poeti- 
cally given; with a little of your encourage- 
ment, perhaps, I may return to my old Lydgate 
and Occleve,^ whose works are there in abund- 
ance. I can write you no news from hence; 
yet I have lately heard ill news, which I shall 
not write. Adieu, dear Mason, and believe me 
most faithfully yours. 

At the Lady Viscountess Cobham's,f at Stoke 
House, near Windsor, Bucks. 

cation to me by Sir Egerton Brjdges, in Appendix V. to 
Life of Gray, p. cii. I possess a list by Gray of the wild 
plants native to this district, made when on one of his two 
visits at Denton. On Gray's visit to him at Denton, see Miss 
Carter's Letters to Mrs. Montague, vol. i. p 384. An account 
of him may be seen also in Gent. Mag. 1803, and in Annual 
Register, 1803, p. 560; Censura Literaria, iii. p. 136. See 
his marriage, p. 212. He was the third surviving brother of 
Mrs. Montagu, and was of Westminster School, and St. John's 
College, Cambridge ; Rector of Burfield, Bucks, where he died, 
aged 75, Dec. 1803. 

* See Gray's Observations on Lydgate's Poems, in Mathias's 
edition, p. 55 to p. 80; and in Ed. Aid. pp. 292 — 321. 

j Ann, widow of Field Marshal Richard Temple, Viscount 
Cobham, who died in 1749, daughter of Edmund Halsey, Esq. 
of Southwark; she lived at the Old House at Stoke Park. 
Miss Speed resided with her, who afterwards became Countess 
of Virey. Lady Cobham died in 1760. 



THE POET GRAY. 195 

Your friend Dr. Plurnptre # has lately sat 
for his picture to Wilson. The motto, in large 
letters (the measure of which he himself pre- 
scribed) is " Non magna loquimur, sed vivi- 
mus :" i.e. " We don't say much, but we hold 
good livings." 



LETTER XLIX. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

Dear Sir, 1759. 

You will receive to-morrow " Caractacus," 
piping hot, I hope, before anybody else has it. 
Observe, it is I that send it, for Mason makes no 
presents to any one whatever ; and, moreover, 
you are desired to lend it to nobody, that we may 
sell the more of them ; for money, not fame, is 
the declared purpose of all we do. I believe you 
will think it (as I do) greatly improved. The 
last chorus, and the lines that introduce it, are 
to me one of the best things I ever read, and 

* In 1760 Dr. Robert Plurnptre was President of Queen's 
College, and from 1760 to 1788 Professor of Casuistry; died 
in October, 1788. His " good livings' 1 '' were Wimpole and 
Whadden, in Cambridgeshire ; he was afterward Prebendary 
of Norwich. 

o 2 



196 LETTERS OF 

surely superior to anything he ever wrote. He 
has had infinite fits of affectation as the hour 
approached, and is now gone into the country 
for a week, like a new-married couple. 

I am glad to find you are so lapt in music at 
Cambridge, and that Mingotti* is to crown the 
whole ; I heard her within this fortnight, and 
think her voice (which always had a roughness) 
is considerably harsher than it was ; but yet she 
is a noble singer. I shall not partake of these 
delights, nor, I fear, be able to see Cambridge 
for some time yet ; but in a week I shall know 
better. Dr. Wharton, who desires his love to 
you, will, I believe, set out for Durham in 
about three weeks to settle at Old Park; at 
present his least girl is ill of the small pox, 
joined with a scarlet fever, but likely to get 
over it. Yesterday I and M. dined with Mr. 
Bonfoy, he told me that the old lady was 
eloped from Bipon, just at a time when he 

* Catarina Mingotti, born at Naples 1726, married Mingotti, 
a Venetian, Manager of the Opera at Dresden. Sang with, 
great applause at the theatres in Italy, Germany, and Spain. 
She came to London in 1754, and made her first appearance 
in Ipermnestra in 1758. She quitted England in 1772, having 
still preserved her voice. The date of her death is not known. 
See Dr. Burney's History of Music, vol. iv. pp. 464-467 ; and 
see note, Letter xn. of this volume 



THE POET GRAY. 197 

seemed to want her there, and was, I thought, 
a little ruffled at it ; but I (in my heart) com- 
mended her, and think her very well revenged 
upon him. Pray, make her my best compli- 
ments. Old Turner # is very declining, and I 

was sounded by Dr. about my designs 

(so I understood it). I assured him I should 
not ask for it, not choosing to be refused. He 
told me two people had applied already. N.B. 
All this is a secret. 

Adieu, dear Sir, 
Believe me ever sincerely yours, 

T. G. 

P.S. — The parcel will come by one of the 
flies. There is a copy for old Pa, who is out- 
rageous about it. I rejoice in Jack's good 
fortune.! Lord Strathmore is much out of order, 
but goes abroad. 

* Shallet Turner, D.C.L. of Peterhouse, Professor of 
Modern History, from 1735 to 1762. 
f Old Pa. is Rev. Mr. Palgrave. 



198 LETTERS OF 

LETTER L. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, Dec. 1, 1759. 

I am extremely obliged to you for the kind 
attention you bestow on me and my affairs. 
I have not been a sufferer by this calamity ; it 
was on the other side of the street, and did not 
reach so far as the houses opposite to mine; 
but there was an attorney, who had writings 
belonging to me in his hands, that had his 
house burnt down among the first, yet he has 
had the good fortune to save all his papers. 
The fire is said to have begun in the chamber 
of that poor glass-organist who lodged at a 
coffee-house in S within' s Alley, and perished in 
the flames. Two other persons were destroyed 
(in the charitable office of assisting their friends) 
by the fall of some buildings. Last night there 
was another fire in Lincoln's Inn Fields, that 
burnt the Sardinian Ambassador's chapel and 
stables, with some adjacent houses, "lis strange 
that we all of us (here in town) lay ourselves 
down every night on our funereal pile, ready 
made, and compose ourselves to rest, while 
every drunken footman and drowsy old woman 
has a candle ready to light it before the 
morning. 



THE POET GBAY. 199 

You will have heard of Hawke's victory 
before this can reach you; perhaps by an express. 
Monsieur de Conflans' t own ship of 
74, were driven on shore, and 
two sunk (capital ships), with 
r it blew a storm during the whole 
could be saved out of them. Eight 
ng over their cannon were able to run 
mouth of a shallow river (where, if the 
wind will permit, it is probable they may be 
set on fire), and eight ran away, and are sup- 
posed to have got into Hochefort; two of 
Hawke's fleet (of seventy and sixty guns) out 
of eagerness ran aground, and are lost, but 
most of the men preserved and brought off. 
There is an end of the invasion, unless you are 
afraid of Thurot, who is hovering off Scotland. 
It is an odd contemplation that somebody 
should have lived long enough to grow a great 
and glorious monarch. As to the nation, I fear 
it will not know how to behave itself, being 
just in the circumstances of a chambermaid 
that has got the 20,000/. prize in the lottery. 
You mistake me. I was always a friend to 

* Torn off. 

•f On the battle between Conflans and Hawke, see Smollett's 
History of England, vol. iv. p. 459; Lacretelle, Hist, de 
France, vol. iii. p. 365. 



200 LETTERS OF 

employment, and no foe to money; but they 
are no friends to each other. Promise me to 
be always busy, and I will allow you to be 
rich. 

I am, dear Mason, in all situations truly 

Yours. 

At Mr. Jauncey's, in Southampton Row. 

I received your letter Nov. 29, the day on 
which it is dated; a wonderful instance of 
expedition in the post. 



LETTER LI. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

Dear Sir, April, 1760. 

I received the little letter, and the inclosed, 
which was a summons from the insurance 
office. On Tuesday last came a dispatch from 
Lisbon. It is probable you have had one 
from my lord;* but lest you should not I will 

* Lord Kinnoul. See Gray's letter to Dr. Wharton, Jan. 
23, 1760, Works, vol. iii. p. 233. " Mr. Pitt, not the great, 
but the little one, my acquaintance, is set out on his travels. 
He goes with my Lord Kinnoul to Lisbon, &c " See also 
Walpole's Letters to Horace Mann, vol. iv. p. 24. Thomas, only 



THE POET GRAY. 201 

tell you the chief contents of mine. Mr. Pitt 
says they were both dreadfully sick all the time 
they were beating about the Channel, but when 
they came to Plymouth (I find) my lord was 
so well, however, that he opened a ball in the 
dock-yard with the Master-attendant's daughter. 
They set sail from thence on the 28th, and 
crossed the bay with a very smooth sea, came 
in sight of Cape Pinisterre in three days' time, 
and before night saw the rugged mountains of 
Galicia with great delight, and came near the 
coast of Portugal, opposite to Oporto; but (the 
wind changing in the night) they drove off to 

son of Thomas Pitt of Boconnock, Cornwall, eldest brother of 
William Pitt, afterwards Lord Camelford. A copy of Mr. 
Pitt's MS. Diary of his Travels in Spain and Portugal is in 
existence. Walpole's letter contains a highly favourable cha- 
racter of Mr. Pitt, in which Mr. Walpole introduces him to the 
favour of our ambassador at Florence. See Letter xxv.p. 104. 
Mr. Gough tells a friend " that he just had the perusal of a 
most delicious Tour which Thomas Pitt and Lord Strathmore 
made through Spain and Portugal in 1760, with most accurate 
descriptions," &c. — See Nichols's Anecdotes, vol. viii. p. 588. 
Lord Strathmore had joined the party. — See Gray's Letter, 
xciv. p. 234 Lord Kinnoul in 1759 was appointed ambassador 
at the court of Portugal, a mission rendered memorable by the 

line — 

" Kinnoul's lewd cargo and Tyrawly's crew." 

See Rockingham Memoirs, vol. i. p. 146. Lord Cameltord 
died in 1787, aged 77. 



202 LETTERS OF 

the west, and were in a way to visit the Brazils. 
However, on the 7th of this month they entered 
the Tagus. He describes the rock of Lisbon as 
a most romantic and beautiful scene, and all 
the north bank of the river np to the city has 
(he says) every charm but verdure. The city 
itself too in that view is very noble, and shows 
but little of the earthquake. This is all as yet. 
My lord is to write next packet. 

Lord G. S. # proceeds in his defence. People 
wonder at (and some there are that celebrate) 
his dexterity, his easy elocution, and unem- 
barrassed manner. He told General Cholmon- 
deley, one of his judges, who was asking a 
witness some question, that it was such a ques- 
tion as no gentleman, no man of honour, would 
put, and it was one of his misfortunes to have 
him among his judges ; upon which some per- 
sons behind him gave a loud clap ; but I do 
not find the court either committed or repri- 
manded them. Lord Albemarle only con- 
tented himself with saying he was sure that 
those men could be neither gentlemen nor men 
of honour. In the midst of this I do not hear 
any one point made out in his favour; and 
.... whose evidence bore the hardest upon 

* See on Lord George Sackville's trial, Gent. Mag. 1760, 
vol. xxx. p. 137, &c. 



THE POET GRAY. 203 

him, and whom he had reflected upon with 
great warmth and very opprobrious terms, has 
offered the court (if they had any doubt of his 
veracity) to procure sixteen more witnesses who 
will say the same tiling. To be sure nothing 
in the field of Minden could be half so dreadful 
as this daily baiting he now is exposed to ; 
so (supposing him a coward) he has chosen 
very ill. 

I am not very sorry your Venetians have 
abandoned you; no more I believe are you. 
Mason is very well, sitting as usual for his 
picture, and while that is doing will not think 
of Yorkshire. We heard Delaval the other 
night play upon the water-glasses, and I was 
astonished. No instrument that I know has 
so celestial a tone. I thought it was a cherubim 
in a box. 

Adieu, dear sir : remember me to such as 
remember me ; particularly (whether she does 
or not) to Mrs. Bonfoy.* 

I suppose you know Dr. Hossf has got the 
living of Prome from Lord Weymouth. 

* " Poor Mrs. Bonfoy," Gray writes to Dr. Wharton, " ivho 
taught me to pray, is dead ; she struggled near a week, I fear 
in great torture, &c." See Works, vol. iv. p. 11. 

+ Of St. John's College, Cambridge, D.D. in 1756; editor 
of Cicero's Epistohe Familiares, 2 vols. He was Chaplain to the 



204 LETTERS OE 

LETTER LIL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, London, June 7, 1760. 

First and foremost pray take notice of the 
paper on which I am writing to you ; it is the 
first that ever was made of silk rags upon the 
encouragement given by your Society of Arts ; 
and (if this were all the fruits) I think you 
need not regret your two guineas a-year. The 
colour and texture you see ; and besides I am 
told it will not burn (at least will not flame) 
like ordinary paper, so that it may be of great 

King, and Preacher at the Rolls. He became Vicar of Frome, 
as mentioned, and made Bishop of Exeter in 1778, where he 
died, 1792. He was also author of a tract against Markland's 
Observations on Cicero's Epistles to Brutus, &c, and a friend of 
Conyers Middleton. Lord Hailes, in his Translation of Lactan- 
tius de Morb. Persecutorum, calls Dr. Ross " an excellent critic, 
to whom another age will do full credit," p. 156, 12mo. In my 
copy of Markland's Work, which belonged to Gray, he has 
written: " This book is answered in an ingenious way, but 
the irony not quite transparent." Ross's tract is entitled, 
" A Dissertation, in which the Defence of P. Sulla ascribed to 
M. T. Cicero is clearly proved to be spurious, after the manner of 
Mr. Markland; with some remarks on the writings of the 
Ancients never before suspected." G'ray is said to have given 
some assistance to Dr. Ross in this Answer. 



THE POET GRAY. 205 

use for hanging rooms ; it is uncommonly 
tough, and, though very thin, you observe, is 
not transparent. Here is another sort of it, 
intended for the uses of drawing. 

You have lately had a visit where you are 
that I am sure bodes no good, especially just 
at the time that the Dean of Canterbury # and 
Mr. Blacowe died; we attribute it to a miff 
about the garter, and some other humps and 
grumps that he has received. Alas ! I fear it 
will never do. The Conde de Euentes was 
much at a loss, and had like to have made a 
quarrel of it, that he had nobody but the D. 
of N.t to introduce him; but Miss ChudleighJ 
has appeased him with a ball. 

I have sent Museeus to Mr. Eraser, scratched 
here and there ; and with it I desired him to 
inclose a bloody satire, § written against no less 

* Dr. Lynch, Dean of Canterbury from 1734 to May 25, 1760, 
when he died ; succeeded, June 14, by Dr. William Friend, son 
of the third master of Westminster School. The Rev. Eichard 
Blacowe, Canon of Windsor, F.R.S. died on 13 May, 1760. 

f Duke of Newcastle. 

J Miss Chudleigh, afterwards the celebrated Duchess of 
Kingston. Walpole says, Miss Chudleigh was received by all 
the Royal Family as Duchess, after having been publicly kept 
by the Duke as his mistress. See Mem. of George III. i. 354. 

§ Alluding to two odes, to Obscurity and Oblivion, written 
by Gr. Colman and R. Lloyd, which appeared in ridicule of 



206 LETTERS OP 

persons than yon and me by name. I con- 
cluded at first it was Mr. Pottinger, becanse he 
is your friend and my hnmble servant; but 
then I thought he knew the world too well to 
call us the favourite minions of taste and 
of fashion, especially as to Odes, for to them 
his abuse is confined. So it is not Secretary 
Pottinger, * but Mr. Colman, nephew to my 
Lady Bath, author of " The Connoisseur," a 
member of some of the inns of court, and a 
particular acquaintance of Mr. Garrick's. What 
have you done to him ? for I never heard his 
name before. He makes very tolerable fun 
with me, where I understand him, which is 
not everywhere, but seems more angry with 
you. Lest people should not understand the 
humour of the thing (which indeed to do they 
must have our lyricisms at their fingers' ends), 
he writes letters in Lloyd's Evening Post to tell 
them who and what it was that he meant, and 

him and Mason. The Ode to Obscurity was chiefly directed 
against Gray, that to Oblivion against Mason. See Lloyd's 
Poems, vol. i. p. 120. Warburton, in a letter to Hurd 
(Let. cxli.), calls them " two miserable buffoon odes," and not 
without reason. Dr. J. Warton says, " The Odes of Gray were 
burlesqued by two men of wit and genius, who, however, 
once said to me that they repented of the attempt." They 
are reviewed in the Monthly Review, vol. xxiii. p. 57. 

* Mr. Richard Pottinger, Under-Secretary of State in 1754. 



THE POET GRAY. 207 

says that it is like to produce a great combus- 
tion in the literary world ; so if you have any 
mind to combustle about it well and good ; for 
me, I am neither so literary nor so combustible. 

I am going into Oxfordshire for a fortnight 
to a place near Henley, * and then to Cambridge, 
if that owl Fobust does not hinder me, who 
talks of going to fizzle there at the com- 
mencement. 

What do you say to Lord Lyttelton, your old 
patron, and Mrs. Montagu, with their second- 
hand Dialogues of the Dead ? And then there 

* Park Place, near Henley, at that time the seat of General 
Conway and Lady Ailesbury. See Gray's Letters, vol. iv. pp. 
221, 247. Horace Walpole to Lady Ossory, ii. p. 338, and to 
Horace Mann, vol. iv. pp 221, 247. " My Lady Ailesbury has 
been much diverted, and so will you too Gray is in this neigh- 
bourhood. Lady Carlisle says, ' He is extremely like me in 
his manner.' They went as a party to dine on a cold loaf, and 
passed the day. Lady A. protests he never opened his lips 
but once, and then only said, " Yes, my lady, I believe so." — 
See Walpole's Letter to G Montagu, p. 199. 

■j* Lord Holland in a few words drew the character of the 
Duke of Newcastle {the owl Fobus) a little before the latter's 
death, and not long before his own. " His Grace had no 
friends, and deserved none. He had no rancour, no ill nature, 
which 1 think much to his honour ; but, though a very good 
quality, it is only a negative one, and he had absolutely no 
one portion good, either of his heart or head." See Selwyn 
Correspondence, ii. 269. 



208 LETTERS or 

is your friend the little black man ; * he has 

* This supplemental dialogue, as Gray calls it, is " An addi- 
tional Dialogue of the Dead between Pericles and Aristides, 
being a sequel to the Dialogue between Pericles and Cicero.' 1 
Who the "little black man" is who wrote it, is not mentioned 
in Mr. Phillimore's Life of Lord Lyttelton. See vol. ii. 352. 
And Shenstone says in a letter (July 7, 1760), " Lord Lyttelton 
is allowedly the author of these dialogues — whose the very last 
is, I do not know." The author, however, thus alluded to was 
Doctor J. Brown, the author of The Estimate, which I first 
learned from the following passage in the Critical Review, vol. 
ix. p. 465 : " The masterly dialogues could not have been 
continued with more propriety than by a writer ivhose works 
have been purchased with astonishing avidity, for their elegance of 
diction and sprightliness of sentiment. When such a triumvirate 
club their wits for the public entertainment, the endeavour 
cannot fail," &c. (t. e. Lord Lyttelton, Mrs. Montagu, and Dr. 
Brown). Again the reviewer says, — " Pericles and Aristides 
are not only diversified in thought and sentiment, but a third 
person is seen peeping behind the scene, namely, the all- 
sufficient and all-approving Estimator" &c. The Monthly 
RevieAver also, vol. xxiii. p 22, identifies the author, as " one 
who has somehow stolen into such reputation in the literary 
world, that inconsiderate readers are inclined to give him credit 
for his matter, on account of his elegant manner of expression. 
We therefore thought ourselves obliged to enter into particulars 
in order to vindicate our judgment of this fantastical composi- 
tion." Horace Walpole, however, mentions the author's name 
in a letter to Sir D. Dalrymple. " Dr. Brown has written a dull 
dialogue called Pericles and Aristides, which will have a dif- 
ferent effect from that yours would have." See Misc. Letters, 
iv. p. 64. 



THE POET GRAY. 209 

written one supplemental dialogue, but I did 
not read it.* 

Do tell me of your health, your doings, your 
designs, and your golden dreams, and try to 
love me a little better in Yorkshire than you 
did in Middlesex, 

For I am ever yours, T. G. 



LETTER LIIL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR OLD SOUL, London, June 27, 1760. 

I cannot figure to myself what you should 
mean by my old papers. I sent none ; all I can 
make out is this — when I sent the Musseus and 
the Satire home to Mr. Eraser, my boy carried 
back the Conway Papersf to a house in your 
street,^ as I remember they were divided into 
three parcels, on the least of which I had written 
the word " nothing," or "of no consequence." 
It did not consist of above twenty letters at 

* See Preface to Dialogues. 

f See Gray's Letter to Dr. Wharton, Sept. 18, 1759, vol. iii. 
p. 223. " When I come home I have a great heap of the 
Conway Papers (which is a secret) to read and make out." 
See Walpole's Letters, vol, iii. p. 401 ; Gray's Works, vol. iii. 
p. 587, " I am still in the height of my impatience for the 
chest of old papers from Ragley, Lord Hertford's seat ;" and to 
the Rev. H. Zouch, vol. iii. p. 401, with note c. 

J To Horace Walpole's house in Arlington Street. 

P 



210 LETTERS OF 

most; and if you find anything about Mr. 
Bourne's affairs, or stewards' and servants' let- 
ters and bills, it is certainly so. This was car- 
ried to Mr. Eraser by mistake, and sent to 
Aston ; and if this is the case, they may as well 
be burnt ; but if there is a good number, and 
about affairs of State (which you may smell 
out), then it is one of the other parcels, and I 
am distressed, and must find some method of 
getting it up again. I think I had inscribed 
the two packets that signified anything, one, 
" Papers of Queen Elizabeth or earlier," the 
other, which was a great bundle, " Papers of 
King James and Charles the Eirst." Pray 
Heaven it is neither of these ; therefore do not 
be precipitate in burning. 

I do not like your improvements at Aston, it 
looks so like settling ; * if I come I will set 

* Mason pulled down the old rectory and built another 
very commodious house, changing the site, so as from his 
windows to command a beautiful and extensive prospect, . 
bounded by the Derbyshire hills. He also much enlarged and 
improved the garden, planting a small group of tulip-trees at 
the further end, near the summer-house dedicated to Gray. 
In another site, opposite the front door, and seen between 
some clumps, is a terminus, with the head of Milton: on the 
landing of the staircase, a copy of the Bocca Padugii eagle 
from Strawberry Hill. Since Mason's time the country round 
Aston has been much more exposed by the woods being cut 
down, and the beauty of the views from his place in that 
respect injured. 



THE POET GKAY. 211 

fire to it. Your policy and your gratitude I 
approve, and your determination never to quar- 
rel and ever to pray ; but I, that believe it 
want of power, am certainly civiiler to a cer- 
tain person than you, that call it want of 
exertion. I will never believe they are dead, 
though I smelt them ; that sort of people always 
live to a good old age. I dare swear they are 
only gone to Ireland, and we shall soon hear 
they are bishops. 

The bells are ringing, the squibs bouncing, 
the siege of Quebec is raised.* S wanton got 
up the river when they were bombarding the 
town. Murray made a sally and routed them, 
and took all their baggage. This is the sum and 
substance in the vulgar tongue, for I cannot 
get the Gazette till midnight. Perhaps you 
have had an estafette, since I find their cannon 
are all taken; and that two days after a French 
fleet, going to their assistance, was intercepted 
and sunk or burnt. 

To-morrow I go into Oxfordshire, and a fort- 
night hence, when old Fobus's owl's nestf is a 
little aired, I go into it. 

Adieu ; am ever and ever, T. G. 

* See Smollett's History of England, vol. v. p. 214. Rock, 
iii. cxxviii. 1760. 

f When the University, after the Commemoration has passed, 

p 2 



212 LETTERS OF 

LETTER LIV. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

Dear Sir, July, 1760. 

I guess what the packet is, and desire you 
would keep it, for I am come back hither, and 
hope to be with you on Tuesday night. I shall 
trouble you to have my bed aired, and to speak 
about a lodging for my servant ; though (if it 
be not contrary to the etiquette of the college) 
I should rather hope there might be some garret 
vacant this summer time, and that he might lie 
within your walls; but this I leave to your 
consideration. 

This very night Billy Robinson* consummates 
his good fortune ; she has 10, 000 1, in her pocket, 
and a brother unmarried with at least as much 
more. He is infirm, and the first convoy that 
sails they all three set out together for Naples 
to pass a year or two. I insist upon it he owes 
all this to Mr. Talbot in the first place, and 
in the second to me, and have insisted on a 
couple of thousand pounds between us — the 
least penny — or he is a shabby fellow. 

is again quiet, which Gray calls the "nest" of the Chancellor 
the Duke of Newcastle. 
* See p. 193. 



THE POET GRAY. 213 

I ask pardon about Madame de Fuentes* and 
her twelve ladies. I heard it in good com- 
pany, when first she arrived, piping hot ; and 
I suppose it was rather what people appre- 
hended than what they experienced. She 
surely brought them over, but I do not find 
she has carried them about; on the contrary, 
she calls on my Lady Herveyt in a morning 

* The wife of the Spanish Ambassador. See account of 
her in Belsham's History, vol. v. p. 54 ; Glover's Memoirs, 
p. 164; Adolphus's History, i. p. 56; Eockingham Papers, 
i. p. 58 ; Horace Walpole to Mann, vol. i. pp. 59, 187 ; History 
of George III. vol. i. p. 127; iii. 253. Walpole, in a letter to 
the Earl of Strafford, gives portraits of her, her husband, and 
family. See Misc. Lett. iv. p. 60. " Mons. de Fuentes is a 
halfpenny print of my Lord Huntingdon. His wife homely, 
but good-natured and civil. The son does not degenerate 
from such high-born ugliness ; the daughter-in-law was sick, 
and they say is not ugly, and has as good a set of teeth as 
one can have when one has but two, and those black. They 
seem to have no curiosity, sit where they are placed, and ask 
no questions. She speaks bad French, danced a bad minuet, 
and went away, though there was a miraculous draft of fishes 
for the supper, as it was a feast," &c. 

| The Mary Lepell of Pope, and to whom Voltaire addressed 
some English verses; born 1700; married John Lord Hervey 
1720; died in 1768, aged 67; lived on terms of friendship 
with Horace Walpole, who, in his Memoirs of George HI. 
vol. ii. p. 108, calls her letters an excellent authority. Arch- 
deacon Nares speaks of her as " that very superior woman, 
Lady Hervey." See on her Gibbon's Misc . Works, i. p. 81, and 



214 LETTERS OF 

in an undress, and desires to be without cere- 
mony; and the whole tribe, except Madame 
de Mora (the young countess), were at Miss 
Chudleigh's* ball and many other places : but 
of late Dr. Alrenf (whom nobody ever liked) 
has advised them to be disagreeable, and they 
accept of no invitations. 

Adieu, dear sir ; I hope so soon to be with 
you, that I may spare you the trouble of reading 
any more. I am ever yours, 

T. G. 

I hear there was a quarrel at the Commons, 
between Dr. Barnard $ and Dr. Ogden — mackerel 
or turbot. 

Memoires sur Rousseau, vol. i. p. 122 ; and Selwyn Correspond- 
ence, -vol. ii. pp. 212, 332 — 336. There is an original portrait 
of her at Lord Bristol's, at Ickworth, and I possess a beautiful 
pencil drawing of her by Richardson. An edition of her 
Letters to Mr. Morris was published by Mr. Croker in 1821. 

* On Miss Chudleigh, Maid of Honour to the Princess 
Dowager of Wales, afterwards Duchess of Kingston, see 
Walpole's Misc. Letters, iv. pp. 37 and 473. She was sup- 
posed to have been previously married to Augustus Earl of 
Bristol ; and in vol. v. pp. 214, 229, and 447, where all the acts 
of the historic drama are contained. There is an engraving 
of her from a picture by Reynolds in the third volume of 
Walpole's Letters to Mann. See also Jesse's George Selwyn, 
vol. iv. p. 89. 

■f Probably the Catholic priest attending on the family. 

J Edward Barnard, D.D. the well-known learned and ac- 



THE POET GRAY. 215 

LETTER LV. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SIR, Saturday, August, 1760. 

This is to inform you that I hope to see you 
on Monday night at Cambridge. If Pobus will 
come, I cannot help it. I must go and see 
somebody during that week — no matter where. 
Pray let Bleek make an universal rummage of 
cobwebs, and massacre all spiders, old and 
young, that live behind window- shutters and 
books. As to airing, I hear Dick Forrester 
has done it. Mason is at Prior Park, so I can 
say nothing of him. The stocks fell, I believe, 
in consequence of your prayers, for there was 
no other reason. Adieu. 

I am ever yours, T. G. 

complished Master of Eton, and afterwards Provost, Canon of 
Windsor on Richard Blacowe's decease. See Gent. Mag. 1760, 
p. 298, and an account of him in Nichols's Anecdotes, vol. v. 
p . 445 ; also a very interesting memorial of him is given by 
his friend Jacob Bryant in the eighth volume of Nichols's 
Anecdotes, pp. 543 — 549. His Latin epitaph, in Eton College 
Chapel, was written by Mr. Bryant. He is mentioned in the 
Walpole and Mason Correspondence, vol i. p. 128, as not 
approving publishing the fragment left by Gray, and printed 
by Mason under the name of " Ode to Vicissitude;" and see 
Johnsoniana, p. 195, for his well-known lines, " I lately 
thought no man alive," &c. ; also pp. 8, 43. 



216 LETTERS OF 

LETTER LVI. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Aug. 7, 1760, Pembroke HaU. 

Your packet, being directed to me here, lay 
some days in expectation of my arrival (for I 
did not come till about ten days since) ; so, if 
the letter inclosed to Dr. Zachary Howlet* were 
not delivered so soon as it ought to have been, 
you must not lay the fault to my charge. 

It is a great misfortune that I dare not pre- 
sent your new seal to the senate in congre- 
gation assembled, as I long to do. Not only 
the likeness, but the character of the fowl is 
so strongly marked, that I should wish it were 
executed in marble, by way of bas-relief, on the 
pedestal of George the Second, which his Grace 
proposes soon to erect in the Theatre. Mr. 
Brown and I think we discover beauties which 
perhaps the designer never intended. There is 
a brave little mitred Madge already on the 
wing, who is flying, as it were, in the face 
of his parent ; this, we say, is Bishop K. :f then 
there is a second, with ingratitude in its face, 

* Dr. Zachary Grey is meant. 

"f Bishops Edmund Keene and Philip Yonge are meant. 
On the former see Grenville Papers, vol ii. p. 534 ; Walpole's 
Misc. Letters, ii. pp. 362, 459 ; vol. iv. p. 58 ; v. 294 ; vi. p. 5 ; 



THE POET GRAY. 217 

though not in its attitude, that will do the 
same as soon as it is fledged and has the con- 
rage ; this is Bishop Y. : a third, that looks 
mighty modest, and has two little ears sprout- 
ing, hut no mitre yet, we take for Dean G. :* 
the rest are embryos that have nothing dis- 
tinguishing, and only sit and pull for a hit of 
mouse ; they won't he prebends these five 
days, grace of God, and if the nest is not taken 
first. 

Your friend Dr. Ch.f died of a looseness : 
about a week before, he eat five large mackerel, 
full of roe, to his own share; but what gave 
the finishing stroke was a turbot, on Trinity 
Sunday, of which he left but very little for the 
company. Of the mackerel I have eyewitnesses, 
so the turbot may well find credit. He has left, 
I am told, 15,000Z. behind him. 

and Gray's Letters, vol. iv. p. 49 ; and Notes to Gray and 
Nicholls Correspondence, p. 185. See also Nichols's Anecdotes, 
ii. p. 66; iv. 332, 351, 721; viii. p. 141; also Mustr. iii. 529. 
Bishop Newton, in his Autobiography, gives a more favourable 
picture of Dr. Keene (see p, 114); particularly for taste and 
magnificence; but Walpole calls him " that interested hog, the 
Bishop of Chester;" and in his Letters to Mason, vol. i. p. 61, 
" Did not Mansfield and Stone beget the Bishop of Chester ?" 
* I presume Dr. John Greene, Dean of Lincoln, 
■f Dr. Chapman. See Gray's letter to Dr. Clarke. Works, 
vol. iii. p. 253. 



218 LETTERS OF 

The Erse Fragments* have been published five 
weeks ago in Scotland, though I had them not 
(by a mistake) till last week. As you tell me 
new things do not soon reach you at Aston, 
I inclose what I can; the rest shall follow 
when you tell me whether you have not got it 
already. I send the two which I had before, 
for Mr. Wood, because he has not the affecta- 
tion of not admiring. I continue to think them 
genuine, though my reasons for believing the 
contrary are rather stronger than ever : but I 
will have them antique, for I never knew a 
Scotchman of my own time that could read, 
much less write, poetry ; and such poetry too ! 
I have one (from Mr. Macpherson) which he 
has not printed : it is mere description, but 
excellent, too, in its kind. If you are good, 
and will learn to admire, I will transcribe it. 
Pray send to Sheffield for the last Monthly 
Review : there is a deal of stuff about us and 

* See Annual Register, 1760, where they are reviewed, and 
Monthly Review, vol xxiii. p. 205. Walpole's Misc. Letters, 
iv. p, 38. " Mr. Gray, who is an enthusiast about these 
poems, begs me to put the following queries to you," &c. 
" He, Mr. Mason, Lord Lyttelton, and one or two more whose 
taste the world allows, are in love with your Erse Elegies. I 
cannot say in general that they are so much admired, but Mr. 
Gray alone is worth satisfying." To Sir D. Dalrymple. See 
also Gray's Letter to Dr. Wharton, Works, vol. iii. pp. 249, 257. 



THE POET GRAY. 219 

Mr. Colman.* It says one of us, at least, has 
always borne his faculties meekly. I leave you 
to guess which that is : I think I know. You 
oaf, you must be meek, must you? and see 
what you get by it ! 

I thank you for your care of the old papers : 
they were entirely insignificant, as you sus- 
pected. 

Billy K-obinson has been married near a 
fortnight to a Miss Richardson (of his own 
age, he says, and not handsome), with 10,000£. 
in her pocket; she lived with an (unmarried) 
infirm brother, who (the first convoy that sails) 
sets out with the bride and bridegroom in his 
company for Naples ; you see it is better to be 
curate of Kensington than rector of Aston. 

Lord J. O.f called upon me here the other 
day ; young Ponsonby, $ his nephew, is to come 

* See Monthly Review, July, 1760, p. 57 to p. 63, art. 
Two Odes, 4to. Is. Payne. It is not without some surprise that 
I read in Hawkins's Life of Johnson, the latter asserting — 
" Colman never produced a luckier thing than his first ode in 
imitation of Gray ; a considerable part of it may be numbered 
among those felicities which no man has twice attained." See 
Gray's Letter to Dr. Wharton on these odes, Works, vol. iii. 
p. 250. 

•f Lord John Cavendish. 

J One of the four sons of William second Lord Ponsonby 
and Earl of Besborough, who all died young. He married 



220 LETTERS OF 

this year to the University; and, as his Lord- 
ship (very justly) thinks that almost everything 
depends on the choice of a private tutor, he 
desires me to look out for such a thing, hut 
without engaging him to anything. Now I am 
extremely unacquainted with the younger part 
of Camhridge, and consequently can only in- 
quire of other people, and (what is worse) have 
nobody now here whose judgment I could much 
rely on. In my own conscience I know no one 
I should sooner recommend than Onley, and 
besides (I own) should wish to bring him to 
this college ; yet I have scruples, first because 
I am afraid Onley should not answer my lord's 
expectations (for what he is by way of a scholar 
I cannot tell), and next because the young man 
(who is high-spirited and unruly) may chance 
to be more than a match for Mr. B., # with whom 
the authority must be lodged. I have said I 
would inquire, and mean (if I could) to do so 
without partiality to any college : but believe, 
after all, I shall find no better. Now I per- 
ceive you have said something to Lord J.f al- 
ready to the same purpose, therefore tell me 
what I shall do in this case. If you chance to 

Lady Caroline Cavendish 1739, eldest daughter of William 
Duke of Devonshire, who died this year, 1760. 

* Mr. Brown. t ^ord John Cavendish. 



THE POET GRAY. 221 

see his lordship you need not mention it, unless 
he tell you himself what has passed between us. 
Adieu, dear Mason, I am ever yours. 

A Note. — Having made many inquiries about 
the authenticity of these Fragments, * I have 
got a letter from Mr. David Hume, the his- 
torian, which is more satisfactory than any- 
thing I have yet met with on that subject : he 
says,— 

" Certain it is that these poems are in every 
body's mouth in the Highlands — have been 
handed down from father to son — and are of 
an age beyond all memory and tradition. Adam 
Smith, the celebrated Professor in Glasgow, told 
me that the piper of the Argyleshire militia 
repeated to him all those which Mr. Macpher- 
son has translated, and many more of equal 
beauty. Major Mackay (Lord Rae's brother) 
told me that he remembers them perfectly 
well; as likewise did the Laird of Macfarline 
(the greatest antiquarian we have in this 
country), and who insists strongly on the his- 
torical truth, as well as the poetical beauty, of 

* See Gray's Works, ed. Aid. vol. iii. pp. 244, 249, 256. 
Hume's letter is printed entire in European Magazine, vol. v. 
p. 327, March 1784; and see Mason's note on the subject; 
and Walpole's Misc. Letters, vol. iv. pp. 22, 37, 55. 



222 LETTERS OE 

these productions. I could add the Laird and 
Lady Macleod, with many more that live in 
different parts of the Highlands, very remote 
from each other, and could only be acquainted 
with what had become (in a manner) national 
works. There is a country- surgeon in Locha- 
ber, who has by heart the entire epic poem 
mentioned by Mr. Macpherson in his Preface, 
and, as he is old, is perhaps the only person 
living that knows it all, and has never com- 
mitted it to writing. We are in the more haste 
to recover a monument which will certainly be 
regarded as a curiosity in the republic of letters. 
We have therefore set about a subscription of a 
guinea or two guineas a-piece in order to enable 
Mr. Macpherson to undertake a mission into 
the Highlands to recover this poem and other 
fragments of antiquity." 

I forgot to mention to you that the names of 
Mngal, Ossian, Oscar, &c, are still given in 
the Highlands to large mastiffs, as we give to 
ours the names of Caesar, Pompey, Hector, &c.* 

* Sir Egerton Brydes says, " Gray was cold and fastidious ; 
but, when his enthusiasm could indulge itself with confidence, 
he delighted to nurse those visionary propensities; witness 
the ardour with which he encouraged himself in the belief of 
Ossian" &c. — See Gnomica, p. 225. 



THE POET GRAY. 223 

LETTER LVIL 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SIR, South*. Row, Oct. 23, 1760. 

I am obliged to you for your letter, and the 
bills inclosed, which I shall take the first 
opportunity I have to satisfy. 

I imagine by this then Lord John is or has 
been with you to settle matters. Mr. Onley* 
(from whom I have twice heard) consents, 
though with great diffidence of himself, to 
undertake this task ; but cannot well be there 
himself till about the 13th of November. I 
would gladly hear what your first impressions 
are of the young man, for (I must tell you 
plainly) our Mason, who had seen him. at Chats - 
worth, was not greatly edified ; but he hopes 
the best. To-morrow Dr. Gisborne t and I go 

* Charles Onley, elected a fellow of Pembroke College in 
1756, and vacated in 1763. He took the degree of Twelfth 
Wrangler in 1755. 

f Dr. Thomas Gisborne, in 1759, was elected a Fellow and 
Censor of the College of Physicians; he is also designated 
Med. Reg. ad Familiam. In 1791 he was President of the 
College, again in 1794, in 1796, and every succeeding year 
till 1803, inclusive: his name does not appear after 1805. 
He had been Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. Dr. 
Gisborne was known to the present learned President of the 
College of Physicians, who remembers having met him at the 
dinner table of Sir Isaac Pennington, at Cambridge. He was 
rather short and corpulent. When the Government of the 



224 LETTERS OF 

to dine with that reverend gentleman (Mason) 
at Kensington during his waiting. He makes 
many kind inquiries after you, hut I see very 
little of him, he is so taken up with the beaux- 
arts. He has lately etched my head with his 
own hand; and his friend Mr. Sandby,* the 
landscape painter, is doing a great picture with 
a view of M. Snowdon, the Bard, Edward the 
First, &c. Now all this I take for a bribe, a 
sort of hush-money to me, who caught him last 
year sitting for his own picture, and know that 
at this time there is another painter doing one 
of the scenes in Elfrida. 

day agreed to purchase John Hunter's Museum, the offer of 
being the Conservator of the Collection was made to the College 
of Physicians, through Dr. Gisborne, then President of the 
College. He put the letter in his pocket, forgot it, and the 
offer was never brought before the consideration of the College. 
The Government subsequently made an offer of it to the 
College of Surgeons, and it now forms the chief part of their 
valuable Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields. It was said that 
the College of Physicians declined to receive this collection, and 
this has been constantly repeated. For this curious anecdote, 
I am indebted to the kindness of the present learned Pre • 
sident, Dr. Ayrton Paris, Dr. Gisborne was called in to 
attend Gray in his last illness. He died Feb. 24, 1806. See 
Gent. Mag. 1806, p. 287. 

* Mr. Sandby, the father of the unrivalled English school 
of water-colours Many of the finest and earliest specimens 
of his pencil which exist, and which I have seen, are still in 
the possession of his family. 



THE POET GEAY. 225 

IrL my way to town I met with the first news 
of the expedition from Sir "William Williams, 
who makes a part of it, and perhaps may lay 
his fine Vandyck head in the dust.* They talk, 
some of R/Ochefort, some of Brest, and others 
of Calais. It is sure the preparations are great, 
but the wind blows violently. 

Here is a second edition of the Fragments, 
with a new and fine one added to them. You 
will perhaps soon see a very serious Elegy (but 
this is a secret) on the death of my Lady 
Coventry, t Watch for it. 

If I had been aware Mr. Mapletoft J was in 
town I should have returned liim. the two 
guineas I have of his. Neither Osborn nor 
Bathurst know when the book will come out. 
I will therefore pay it to any one he pleases. 

Adieu, dear sir, I am ever yours, T. G. 

* Sir William Peers Williams, C.B. a Captain in Burgoyne's 
Dragoons. See account of him in Gray's Works, ed. Aid. 
vol. i. p. 93, and note at Letter lxix. " Sir W. Williams, a 
young man much talked of for his exceeding ambition, enter- 
prising spirit, and some parts in Parliament, is already fallen 
there ; and even he was too great a prize for such a paltry 
island." — Walpole's Letter to H. Mann, i. p. 29. 

f See Masons Works, vol. i. p. 107. 

J Probably John Mapletoft, of Pembroke College, A.M. 
1764, took a Wrangler's degree in 1752 ; one below that of 
(Bishop) Porteus. 

Q 



226 letters or 

I did not mean to carry away your paper of 
the two pictures at Were Park ; * but I find I 
have got it here. 



LETTER LVIIL 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

Dear Sir, Oct. 25, 1760. 

You will wonder at another letter so soon ; 
it is only to tell you what you will probably 
hear before this letter reaches you. 

The King is dead.f He rose this morning 
about six (his usual early hour) in perfect 
health, and had his chocolate between seven and 
eight. An unaccountable noise was heard in 
his chamber ; they ran in, and found him lying 
on the floor. He was directly bled, and a few 
drops came from him, but he instantly expired. 

This event happens at an unlucky time, but 
(I should think) will make little alteration in 
public measures. 

I am rather glad of the alteration with re- 

* Ware Park, near Hertford. 

•f On the death of George the Second, see Smollett's History, 
vol. v. c. xiv. p. 287. Belsham's History, vol. iv. p. 442. 



THE POET GRAY. 227 

gard to Chambers, for a reason which yon will 
guess at. 

My service to Pa.* I will write to him soon, 
and long to see his manuscripts, and blue 
books, and precipices. Adieu. 

I am yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER LIX. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, London, Nov. 8, 1760, 

You will excuse me if I write you a little 
news in this busy time, though I have nothing 
else to write. The ladies are rejoiced to hear 
they may probably have a marriage before the 
coronation, which will restore to that pomp all 
the beauties it would otherwise have lost. I 
hear (but this is sub sigillo) no very extraor- 
dinary account of the Princess of Saxe Gotha. 
Mason walks in the same procession, and, as 
you possibly may see liim the next day, he will 
give you the best account of it. You have 

* Rev. William Palgrave; in allusion to the manuscript 
Diaries kept during his Travels. He died in 1799. Gent. 
Mag. 1799, pp. 1003, 1085. See Letter xxxvii. p. 158. 

Q2 



228 LETTERS OE 

heard, I suppose, that there are two wills (not 
duplicates). He had given to the Duke of 
Cumberland all his jewels, but at the last 
going to Hanover had taken with him all the 
best of them, and made them crown jewels, 
so that they come to the successor. He had 
also given the Duke three millions of rix- 
dollars in money ; but in the last will (made 
since the affair at Closter Seven), after an 
apology to him, as the best son that ever 
lived, and one that has never offended him, 
declares that the expenses of the war have 
consumed all this money. He gives him (and 
had before done so by a deed of gift) all his 
mortgages in Germany, valued at 170,000£. ; 
but the French are in possession of part of 
these lands, and the rest are devoured by the 
war. He gives to Princesses Emily and Mary 
about 3 7, 000 1, between them, the survivor to 
take the whole. I have heard that the Duke was 
to have a third of this, but has given up his 
share to his sisters. To Lady Yarmouth a box, 
which is said to have in it 10,000/. in notes. 
The K. is residuary legatee ; what that amounts 
to no one will know, and consequently it must 
remain a doubt whether he died rich or poor. 
I incline to believe rather the latter ; I mean 
in comparison of what was expected. 



THE POET GRAY. 229 

The Bishop* is the most assiduous of courtiers, 
standing for ever upright in the midst of a 
thousand ladies. The other day he trod on the 
toes of the Duke, who turned to him (for he made 
no sort of excuse), and said aloud, " If your 
Grace is so eager to make your court, that is 
the way" (pointing towards the king) ; and 
then to the Count de Euentes, " You see priests 
are the same in this country as in yours." 

Mr. E. Einch (your representative) has got 
the place that Sir H. E. (my friend) had — sur- 
veyor, I think, of the roads, which is ahout 
6001. a-year.f What then (you will ask) has 

* The name of the bishop is erased in the MS., but Seeker 
is meant. See "Walpole's History of George III., vol. i. p. 19. 
" Seeker, the archbishop, who for the first days of the reigD 
flattered himself with the idea of being First Minister in a court 
that hoisted the standard of religion. He was unwearied in at- 
tendance at St. James's, and in presenting bodies of clergy; and 
his assiduity was so bustling and assuring, that, having pushed 
aside the Duke of Cumberland to get at the king, his royal high- 
ness reprimanded him with a bitter taunt." See, however, a 
more just and candid account of Seeker in the Editor's note to 
these Memoirs, vol iii. p. 233. Walpole's notices of Seeker in 
MS., which I have, are still more flagrantly unjust, and untrue. 

t Mr. Henry Finch was Member for Cambridge, and his 
predecessor as surveyor of the king's roads was Sir Henry 
Ershine. It was Sir Henry Erskine who made the unsuc- 
cessful application to Lord Bute for the place of Professor of 
Modern Languages in favour of Gray, in 1762. See Letters, 



230 LETTERS or 

become of my friend ? Oh, he is a vast fa- 
vourite, is restored to his regiment, and made 
Groom of the Bedchamber. I have not been 
to see him yet, and am half afraid, for I hear 
he has a levee. Pray don't tell. 

Lord J. C. is fixed to come at his time in spite 
of the world. I hear within the year yon may 
expect a visit from his Majesty in person. 

When the Duke of Devonshire introduced 
my lord mayor, he desired his grace would be 
so kind to tell him which was my Lord Boot. 
This must not be told at all, nor anything else 
as from me. Adieu. 



LETTER LX. 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 
DEAR Mr. GRAY, Aston, Nov. 28, '60. 

I send you the Elegy ; you will find I have 
altered all the things you marked, and some 

vol. iii. p. 301, and Mason's note. Sir H. E. was M.P. for 
Trail, and Lieut.-Col. in the army. See a letter from him 
to Mr. Grenville in Grenville Papers, i. p. 189. He is called 
by Walpole " a creature of the favorite (Bute)." See Memoirs 
of George IIL, i. p. 139. In 1760 (the date of the letter) he 
was Major-General, and Colonel of the 67th Regt. vice Lord 
Frederick Campbell. 



THE POET GRAY. 231 

perhaps I have improved. Mr. Wood thinks 
the conclusion equal enough to the rest, there- 
fore I have ventured to send a copy to Lord 
Holdernesse ; but I hope to have your scratches 
upon that part also soon. I wish you would 
let your servant take a copy and send it to Mr. 
Brown, to whom I talked about it. When I 
was at Cambridge I saw a great deal of Onley, 
and am very sanguine in my hopes that his 
pupilage will not turn out ill. Dr. Acton* 
came down when I was there, and entertained 
us much with his beaver and camblet surtout. 
Do write to me soon, and promise yourself that 
I will be as regular a correspondent for the 
future as I have always been. 

Your sincere friend, 

W. Mason. 

* Nathaniel Acton was admitted a Fellow Commoner of 
Pembroke in 1743; he might be revisiting his old College; 
and a Thomas Acton was elected Fellow in 1756, who vacated 
in 1763. 



232 LETTERS OF 

LETTEE LXI. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

London, at Mr. Jauncey's, not Jenour's, 

Dear Mason, Dec. 10, 1760. 

It is not good to give copies of a thing 
before you have given it the last hand.* If you 
would send it to Lord H.f you might have spared 
that to Lady M. O.J ; they have both showed it 
to particular friends, and so it is half published 
before it is finished. I begin again from the 
beginning : — 

" Ah, mark," is rather languid; I would 
read " Heard ye." 

Y. 3. I read, " and now with rising knell," 
to avoid two " the's." 

* The Elegy on Lady Coventry. 

f Lord Holdernesse. 

{ Lady Mary Coke, fourth daughter of John Duke of Argyll, 
married Edward Viscount Coke, 1747, heir apparent of Thomas 
Earl of Leicester, who died in his father's lifetime. Walpole 
writes, " I have regard and esteem for her good qualities, 
which are many, but I doubt her genius will never suffer 
her to be quite happy," &c. She lived at Notting Hill, and 
died at a great age in 1811. A fuller character of her is given 
in a letter to Horace Mann, ii. p. 257. See his verses on 
her in Misc. Letters, iv. 199; and v. p. 353. Add Selwyn 
Corres. vol. i. p. 326. 



THE POET GRAY. 233 

V. 10. I read, " since now that bloom," &c. 

V. 11, 12, are altered for the better, and so 
are the following ; but for " liquid lightning," 
Lord J. Cavendish says, there is a dram which 
goes by that name ; and T. G. adds, that the 
words are stolen from a sonnet of the late 
Prince of Wales.* What if we read " liquid 
radiance," and change the word " radiant" 
soon after. 

V. 18. Read, " that o'er her form," &c. 

V. 23. " Cease, cease, luxuriant muse." 
Though mended, it is still weakly. I do not 
much care for any muse at all here. 

* Gray alludes to the song written by Frederick Prince of 
Wales, called " The Charms of Sylvia," of which I give the 
two commencing stanzas. The expression alluded to is in the 
first line : — 

" 'Tis not the liquid brightness of those eyes, 
That swim with pleasure and delight ; 
Nor those heavenly arches which arise 
O'er each of them to shade the light. 

" 'Tis not that hair which plays with every wind, 
And loves to wanton round thy face ; 
Now straying round thy forehead, now behind, 
Rocking with unresisting grace." 

The whole may be seen in Mr. Jesse's Memoirs of the Court 
of England, vol. iii. p. 151. 



234 LETTERS OF 

Y. 26. " Mould'ring " is better than " clay- 
cold;" somewhat else might be better perhaps 
than either. 

V. 35. " Whirl you in her wild career." 
This image does not come in so well here 
between two real happinesses. The word 
" lead " before it, as there is no epithet left to 
" purple," is a little faint. 

" Of her choicest stores an ampler share," 
seems to me prosaic. 

" Zenith-height" is harsh to the ear and too 
scientific. 

I take it the interrogation point comes after 
"fresh delight;" and there the sense ends. 
If so, the question is too long in asking, and 
leaves a sort of obscurity. 

V. 46. I understand, but cannot read, this 
line. Does "tho' soon" belong to "lead her 
hence," or to "the steps were slow?" I take 
it to the latter ; and if so, it is hardly gram- 
mar; if to the former, the end of the line 
appears very naked without it. 

Y. 55. " House, then — his voice pursue." I 
do not like this broken line. 

V. 74. "Firm as the sons," that is, "as 
firmly as." The adjective used for the adverb 
here gives it some obscurity, and has the ap- 
pearance of a contradiction. 



THE POET GRAY. 235 

V. 76. A less metaphorical line would be- 
come this place better. 

Y. 80. This, though a good line, woiild be 
better too if it were more simple, for the same 
figure is amplified in the following stanza, 
and there is no occasion for anticipating it 
here. 

V. 85. "And why?" I do not understand. 
You mean, I imagine, that the warrior must not 
expect to establish his fame as a hero while he 
is yet alive; but how does "living fame" sig- 
nify this ? The construction, too, is not good; if 
you mean, with regard to Fame, while he yet 
lives, Pate denies him that. The next line is 
a bold expression of Shakespeare. The third, 
" ere from her trump — heaven breathed," is 
not good. 

Y. 89. "Is it the grasp?" You will call 
me a coxcomb if I remind you, that this 
stanza in the turn of it is too like a stanza of 
" another body's." # 

* Is it the grasp of empire to extend, 
To curb the fury of insulting foes ? 
Ambition cease ; the idle contest end, 

'Tis but a kingdom thou canst win or lose. 

Which stanza (perhaps now altered in consequence of the 
remark) Gray considers like one in the Elegy in a Country 
Churchyard; perhaps the one beginning — 

The applause of listening senates to command, &c. 



236 LETTERS or 

V. 98. " Truth ne'er can sanctify," is an 
indifferent line. Both Mr. Brown and I have 
some doubt about the justness of this sen- 
timent. A kingdom is purchased, we think, 
too dear with the life of any man ; and this no 
less if there "bea life hereafter" than if there 
be none. 

Y. 102. We say the juice of the grape 
"mantles," but not the grape. 

V. 107. " By earth's poor pittance " will not 
do; the end is very well, but the whole is 
rather too long, and I would wish it reduced a 
little in the latter part. 

I am sorry you went so soon out of town, 
because you lost your share in his Majesty's 
reproof to his chaplains : "I desire those gen- 
tlemen may be told that I come here to praise 
God, and not to hear my own praises." Kitt 
Wilson * was, I think, the person that had been 

* Dr. Christopher Wilson, of Catharine Hall, Cambridge, 
M.A. 1740, Eector of Fulham and of Halsted, Essex, Canon 
of St. Paul's, Bishop of Bristol in 1783, died April 1792, 
aged 77. "He died extremely rich, having, as Prebendary 
of Finsbury, made a most fortunate and lucrative contract for 
a lease with the City of London ;" for when he came in pos- 
session of it, it brought in only a life-interest of 391. 13s. 4c?. ; 
and from it he received 50,000Z. in his lifetime, and charged 
his estate with 50,000/. more in his will. See a full account 
of him and his contract in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, ix. 
p. 519-524. 



THE POET GRAY. 237 

preaching. This and another thing I have 
been told give me great hopes of the young 
man. Eobus was asking him what sum it was 
his pleasure should be laid out on the next elec- 
tion P* " Nothing, my lord." The duke stared, 
and said, " Sir I." " Nothing, I say, my lord ; I 
desire to be tried by my country." 

There has been as great confusion this week 
as if the Erench were landed. You see the 
heads of the Tories are invited into the bed- 
chamber ; f and Mr. P. avows it to be his advice, 
not as to the particular men, but the measure. 
Pobus knew nothing of it till it was done; and 
has talked loudly for two days of resigning. 
Lord Hardwick and his people say they will 
support the Whig interest, as if all was going 
to ruin, and they hoped to raise a party. What 
will come of it is doubtful, but I fancy they 

* Compare Walpole's Memoirs of George III. vol. i. p. 209, 
" The profusion exercised on this occasion, and which reduced 
the Court to stop even the payments of the King's Bedchamber, 
made men recall severely to mind the King's declaration on 
the choice of the Parliament, ' that he would not permit 
anything to be spent on elections.' " 

•(• The commencement of the present reign was also distin- 
guished by a grand creation of Peers, and far more offensively 
by the nomination of twelve additional Lords of the Bed- 
chamber, &c. See Belsham's History, vol v. p. 9 ; also Wal- 
pole's Memoirs of George III. vol. i. App. i. ii. 



238 LETTERS OP 

will acquiesce and stay in as long as they can. 
Great confusion in the army, too, ahont Lord 
Fitzmanrice, # who is put over the head of Lord 

* William Viscount Fitzmaurice, promoted to the rank of 
Colonel Dec. 4, 1760. He became a Major-General July 10, 
1762; Lieut-General May 25, 1772; General Feb. 19,1783; 
and died senior of that rank in May, 1805. He never com- 
manded a regiment. Created Marquess of Lansdowne Nov. 30, 
1784. He attained the courtesy-title of Viscount Fitzmaurice 
June 26, 1753, on his father being created Earl of Shelburne. 
Walpole alludes to the discontent, and says, " Lord Fitzmaurice 
made Aide-de-Camp to the King has disgusted the army," 
Misc. Corr. iv. 116. — Lord Lennox was Lord George Henry 
Lennox, second son of the 2d Duke of Eichmond, junior 
Captain in 25th Regt. March 23, 1756; married in 1759 
Louisa, fourth daughter of William Ker, fourth Marquis of 
Lothian; promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1762; General, 
Oct. 12, 1793. Died in March, 1805, being the Governor of 
Plymouth. — Mr. Fitzroy was Charles, second son of Lord 
Augustus Fitzroy, who was second son of the second Duke of 
Grafton; created Lord Southampton in 1780 ; Lieut.-General 
in the army, and Colonel of 3rd Regt. of Dragoons. Died 
March 21, 1797. He was at this time Lieut.-Colonel of the 
1st Foot Guards. — " Considering," says a friend, " that Mr. 
Fitzroy entered the service in 1752, and became Lieut.- 
Colonel in 1758, and that Lord G. Lennox was a Captain in 
March, 1756, and Lieut.-Colonel (probably) in 1758, the 
promotion of Viscount Fitzmaurice must indeed have been 
rapid, when two officers of so short a standing in the army 
felt themselves aggrieved thereby. Viscount Fitzmaurice 
was born in 1736; Lord Southampton in 1737; Lord G. 
H. Lennox in 1737; consequently Lord Fitzmaurice became 



THE POET GRAY. 239 

Lennox, Mr. Fitzroy, and also of almost all the 
American officers. 

I have seen Mr. Southwell,* and approve him 
much. He has many new tastes and know- 
ledges, and is no more a coxcomb than when he 
went from hence. I am glad to hear you bode 
so well of Ponsonby and his tutor. Here is a 

colonel when twenty-four years old; Lord Southampton at- 
tained the same rank when twenty-five ; and Lord G. H. Lennox 
when little more than twenty-three years old. The two last- 
named became Major- Generals at thirty -five years of age, — a 
rank now scarcely attainable under the age of sixty." Lord 
Viscount Fitzmaurice was on the 10th May, 1761, made Aide- 
de-Camp to his Majesty. See Gent Mag. May 1760. See also 
Rockingham Papers, vol. i. p. 38. " Early in this reign Lord 
Fitzmaurice, being at the time in high favour with Lord Bute, 
was made Equerry to the King over the head of his superior 
officer. Lord Lennox. The Duke of Richmond, irritated by 
this slight to his relative, carried a memorial to his Majesty, 
and commented on the appointment in a manner that was 
neither < forgiven nor forgotten,' by a Prince equally remark- 
able for his keen resentments and his retentive memory." Wal- 
pole says, " Lord Fitzmaurice, a favourite of Lord Bute, was 
made Equerry to the King, though inferior in military rank 
to Lord George Lennox and Charles Fitzroy, brothers of the 
Dukes of Richmond and Grafton. The Duke of Grafton made 
a direct representation to the King on the wrong done to his 
brother, and desired rank for him," &c. See Memoir of 
George III. vol. i. p. 26, 27. 

* Mr. Henry Southwell was A.B. 1752, of Magdalen Col- 
lege; A.M. 1755; LL.D. 1763. 



240 LETTERS or 

delightful new woman* in the burlettas ; the 
rest is all Bartholomew and his fair. Elisif has 
been ill ever since he came, and has not sung 
yet. Adieu. 

I am truly yours. 



LETTER LXII. 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

Dear Mr. Gray, Jan. 8, 1761. 

I thank you much for your criticisms, but at 
present shall not take notice of them. They 
will stand me in good stead whenever I put the 
Elegy in my first volume, and till then let them 
pass. 

I thank you also very much for your Georgi- 
ana : if they be genuine, I thank you as an 
Englishman, and prefer them before everything 

* This was Signora Paganini, the wife of Paganini, a 
coarse man; she appeared in 1760. See Burney's History of 
Music, iv. 474, for a remarkable instance of her attraction. 

■j* A man of great reputation and abilities; performed at 
the Opera in London 1760 and 1761; a great singer and 
eminent actor. See Burney's History of Music, iv. 473-4 ; 
Walpole's Letter to Mann, i. p. 8; Misc. Letters, vol. iv. 
pp. 27, 326, 428. 



THE POET GRAY. 241 

a 

that ever ended in ana. But you are mistaken 
in your preacher ; it was Dr. Thomas Wilson, * of 
Westminster, who they say is a rogue; the 
other is only a coxcomb, but a sort of coxcomb 
that I hate almost as much as a rogue. If 
the Nouvelle Heloise be Housseau's, pity me, 
because I live at Aston, and have not seen 
it, and be sure send me some account of it, and 
that with speed. I find there is a new report 
that Lord H.t is to go to Ireland. This has 
induced poor Frederic Hervey J (glad of such an 
opportunity of renewing our correspondence) 
to write to me, and to tell me that his friends 
have hopes of making him First Chaplain, but 
that he begs first to know whether it will 
interfere with me, and whether it might not 
be made compatible with my interest. All 
this was so jellied over with friendship, that 
he thought, I fancy, I should scarce know the 
dish he presented me with. The letter I shall 

* Chaplain to the King. See Watt's Bibliotheca Britan- 
nica and Nichols's Lit* Anecdotes, vol. viii. p. 457. 

f The Earl of Halifax was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Oc- 
tober, 1761. 

J On " poor Frederic Hervey," see Collins's Peerage, iv. 
160. Born 1730; chaplain to the King; in 1767 pro- 
moted to the bishoprick of Cloyne; and in 1768 to that of 
Derry. Subsequently well known abroad and at home. 

ft 



242 LETTERS OF 

tie up in a bundle with one of Archbishop 
Hutton' s,* and some others which I keep as 
curiosities in their way. I have, however, in 
pity to his wife and family of small children, sent 
him an answer not so tart as he deserved, and 
given him full liberty of using all his interest 
in this matter. However, keep this a secret, 
because I promised to do it, and because, also, I 
should not have broken my promise could I have 
thought of anything better to write at present. 
I am glad at heart to find this annihilation 
of Toryism which you give me an account of. 
Pobus, besides lying, had only one other minis- 
terial art in his profession, which, too, was a 
species of lying, and this he exerted in making 
every man who was not a friend to the ministry 
a Tory. Was he asked to explain this, he had 
not skill enough in English history and the 

* Matthew Hutton, Archbishop of York 1747, translated to 
Canterbury 1757. Connected by family with Mason. At the 
death of John Hutton, Esq. of Marshe, near Eichmond, an 
estate in the East Riding came to Mason in reversion. See 
Walpole's Misc. Corr. iii. 347; Mem. of George IL vol. i. 
p. 148. He gave Mason the prebend of Holme, in the cathe- 
dral of York, in 1756. See Harris's Life of Lord Hardwicke, 
ii 345, on the difficulties in filling up the see of Canterbury: 
" I have offered it to Sherlock and Gibson, who refused it, and 
so did Herring ; but was prevailed on to take it when Hutton 
went to York." There is an engraving of Archbishop Hutton. 



THE POET GRAY. 243 

constitution of his country to do it, and there- 
fore he explained himself by saying, a Tory was 
a Jacobite, and a Jacobite a Tory. This you 
may remember : one of his tools who could 
not cleverly make you either Tory or Jacobite, 
said you was worse — you was a Republican. 
May God send this measm*e a happy ending, 
and may the next generation be only distin- 
guished by the style and title of friends to their 
country. 

You hare by this time heard Elisi. Pray 
give me an account of him or it as soon as 
possible, and send me also your receipt for 
chevichi, in plain terms. Have you made up 
your mind about Gothic architecture, and, con- 
sequently, given over jowc genealogical studies,* 
which, it seems, are so intimately connected 
with that science. For my part, I am meta- 
morphosing some good old homilies into new- 
fashioned sermons, and consequently spoiling 
every period of them. But what better can 

* Many instances of Gray's laborious inquiries into ge- 
nealogy appeared when his library was made public. None 
more striking, than in a copy of Dugdale's Origines, folio, in 
which Gray had gone through, page by page, the whole 
volume, filling up in the margin the arms of all the families 
mentioned, with full descriptions of them. This volume is 
now in the British Museum. 

R 2 



244 LETTERS OF 

I do, living as I here do in almost absolute 
solitude, and in that state of life which my 
old friend Jeremy Taylor so well describes in 
his sermon aptly entitled the Marriage Ring. 
" Celibate life," says he, " like the nie in the 
heart of an apple, dwells in a perpetual sweet- 
ness, but sits alone, and is confined, and dies 
in singularity. But marriage, like the useful 
bee, builds a house, gathers sweetness from 
every flower, labours, and unites into societys 
and republics," &c. If I survive you, and 
come to publish your works, I shall quote 
this passage, from whence you so evidently 
(without ever seeing it) took that thought, 
" Poor moralist, and what art thou," &c. But 
the plagiarism had been too glaring had you 
taken the heart of the apple, in which, however, 
the great beauty of the thought consists. After 
all, why will you not read Jeremy Taylor ? 
Take my word and more for it, he is the 
Shakespeare of divines. Adieu, and believe me 
to be ever most entirely yours. 



THE POET GRAY. 245 

LETTER LXIIL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON, 
DEAR MASON, London, Jan. 22, 1761. 

I am delighted with Frederic Hervey and let- 
ter, and envy you his friendship, for the founda- 
tion of it (I am persuaded) was pure friendship, 
as far as his idea of the thing extended ; and if 
one could see his little heart one should find no 
vanity there for over-reaching you and artfully 
gilding so dirty a pile, but only a degree of 
self-applause for having done one of the 
genteelest and handsomest things in the world. 
I long to see the originals and (if you have any 
gratitude) you will publish them in your first 
volume. Alas ! there was a time when he was 
my friend, and there was a time (he owned) 
when he had been my greatest enemy; why 
did I lose both one and the other of these 
advantages, when at present I could be so 
happy with either, I care not which ? Tell him 
he may take his choice ; it is not from interest 
I say this, though I know he will some time or 
other be Earl of Bristol,* but purely because I 

* See the last mention of him by Gray, in a letter to 
Nicholls, 2nd May, 1771. " Sometimes, from vanity, he may 
do a right thing," &c. 



246 LETTERS OF 

have long been without a knave and fool of my 
own. Here is a bishopric (St. David's) vacant, 
can I anyhow serve him ? I hear Dr. Ays- 
cough* and Dean Squiref are his competitors. 
God knows who will go to Ireland ; it ought to 
be somebody, for there is a prodigious to-do 
there ; the cause I have been told, but, as I did 
not understand or attend to it, no wonder if I 
forgot it ; it is somewhat about a money-till, 
perhaps you may know. The Lords Justices 
absolutely refuse to comply with what the 
Government here do insist upon, and even offer 
to resign their posts ; in the mean time none of 
the pensions on that establishment are paid. 
Nevertheless two such pensions have been be- 
stowed within this few weeks, one on your 
friend Mrs. Anne Pitt (of 5001. a-year)4 which 

* Francis Ayscough, chaplain and preceptor to the Prince 
of Wales, rector of North Church, Herts, Dean of Bristol, 
author of Sermons, &c. married the sister of Lord Lyttelton. 
See account of him in Nichols's Anecdotes, vol. viii. 433, ix. 
531, 808. 

f In 1761 Samuel Squire, Dean of Bristol, was appointed 
to the bishopric of St. David's. 

J For account of Mrs. Anne Pitt, sister to the Earl of 
Chatham, and Privy Purse to the Princess of Wales, and for 
mention of the places she held, see Walpole's Miscell. Corres. 
vol. iv. pp.382, 397,469,475; Letters to Mann, ii. pp. 226, 268, 
275; iii. pp. 57, 80, 107, 150; the Grenville Papers, i p. 85; 



THE POET GRAY. 247 

she asked, and Lord B.* got it done immediately; 
she keeps her place with it : the other (of 4*001.) 
to Lady Harry Beauclerk,f whose husband died 
suddenly, and left her with six or seven 
children very poorly provided for; the grant 
was sent her without being asked at all by her- 
self, or any friend. I have done with my news, 
because I am told that there is an express just 
set out for Yorkshire, whom you are to meet 
on the road. I hope you will not fail to in- 
form him who is to be his First Chaplain ; per- 
haps you will think it a piece of treachery to 

and Walpole's George III. vol. i. p. 85 ; where the passage is 
worth consulting. " She had excellent parts, and strong 
passions. It was Lord Bolingbroke that recommended her to 
the Prince; afterwards she obtained the patronage of Lord 
Bute, and got two large pensions. When she informed her 
brother of it, he answered, that he was sorry to see the name 
of Pitt among the i^ensions. When he accepted his, she copied 
his own letter and sent it to him." Walpole said of Lord 
Chatham and his sister, " that they resembled each other, 
comme deux gouttes de feu" She used to say that her brother 
never read any book except Spenser. See also Lord Mahon's 
History of England, vol. v. p. 225, and Selwyn Correspondence, 
i. p. 329. Lord Bolingbroke used to call Lord Chatham 
Sublimity Pitt, and his sister Divinity Pitt. In 1762 she had a 
third pension of 500/. a-year. She died 9th Feb. 1780. 

* Earl of Bute. 

t Lord Harry Beauclerk died July 8, 1761. See Collins's 
Peerage, i. 248. 



248 LETTERS OF 

do so, or perhaps you will leave the thing to 
itself, in order to make an experiment. 

I* cannot pity you ; cm contraire, I wish I 
had been at Aston when I was foolish enough 
to go through the six volumes of the Nouvelle 
Heloise.f All that I can say for myself is, that 
I was confined at home for three weeks by 
a severe cold, and had nothing better to do. 
There is no one event in it that might not hap- 
pen any day of the week (separately taken), in 
any private family : yet these events are so put 
together that the series of them are more 
absurd and more improbable than Amadis de 
Gaul. The dramatis persona? (as the author 
says) are all of them good characters ; I am 
sorry to hear it, for had they been all hanged 
at the end of the third volume nobody (I be- 
lieve) would have cared. In short, I went on 

* Here Mason commences this Letter, omitting the preceding 
part. See Lett. en. p. 267, vol. iii. ed. Aid. 

■j" The original manuscript of the Nouvelle Heloise is in the 
Library of the Chamber of Deputies : the writing as legible 
as print, without one obliteration. The MS. was on beautiful 
small paper, with vignettes, and afterwards folded like letters. 
Rousseau used to read them in his walks. In Grimm's Cor- 
respondence may be seen Voltaire's sham prophetic review of 
the Heloise ; and in Marmontel's Essai sur les Romans, an excel- 
lent notice of it, very powerfully written, which called forth 
the praise of Madame de Genlis. See her Memoirs, iv. p. 266. 



THE POET GBAY. 249 

and on in hopes of finding some wonderful de- 
nouement that would set all right, and bring 
something like nature and interest out of ab- 
surdity and insipidity; no such thing, it 
grows worse and worse, and (if it be Rousseau, 
which is not doubted) is the strongest in- 
stance I ever saw that a very extraordinary 
man may entirely mistake his own talents.* 
By the motto and preface it appears to be his 
own story, or something similar to it. 

The Opera House is crowded this year like 
any ordinary theatre. Elisit is finer than any- 
thing that has been here in your memory, yet, 
as I suspect, has been finer than he is. He 
appears to be near forty, a little pot-bellied and 
thick- shouldered, otherwise no bad figure ; his 
action proper, and not ungraceful. We have 
heard nothing, since I remember operas, but 
eternal passages, divisions, and flights of exe- 

* On this disparaging character of Eousseau's great work, 
see W. S. Landor, de Cultu Latini Sermonis, p. 197. " Rossceo 
nee in sententiis ipse suavior est (qui parum profecto praeter 
'suavitatem habet) Isocrates, nee in verbis uberior aut amplioris 
in dicendo dignitatis Plato, nee Sophronisci films melior 
sophista. Nemo animi affectus profundius introspexit, deli- 
catius tetigit, solertius explicavit. Odium vero hominum quos 
insinceros Grains aut pravos existimabat, aut religionis 
Christianorum inimicos, transversum egit et prseceps judicium." 

t See Gray's Works, vol. iii. p. 268. 



250 LETTERS OF 

cution ; of these lie has absolutely none, 
whether merely from judgment, or a little 
from age, I will not affirm. His point is ex- 
pression, and to that all the graces and orna- 
ments he inserts (which are few and short), are 
evidently directed. He goes higher (they say) 
than Farinelli, but then this celestial note you 
do not hear above once in a whole opera, 
and he falls from this altitude at once to 
the mellowest, softest, strongest tones (about 
the middle of his compass) that can be heard. 
The Mattel* (I assure you) is much improved 
by his example, and by her great success this 
winter. But then the Burlettas and the Paga- 
nina.f I have not been so pleased with any- 
thing these many years ; she too is fat and 
about forty, yet handsome withal, and has a 
face that speaks the language of all nations. 
She has not the invention, the fire, and the 
variety of action, that the Spiletta had;{ yet 
she is light, agile, ever in motion, and above 
all graceful ; but then her voice, her ear, her 
taste in singing: Good God! — as Mr. Rich- 

* Colomba Mattei, a charming singer and intelligent actress, 
and a very great favourite. 

■f See note to Letter lxi. 

J The part of Spiletta in Gli Amante Gelosi : a burletta by 
Cocchi. See Burney, iv. 465. 



THE POET GRAY. 251 

ardson the painter says.* Pray ask my Lord, 
for I think I have seen him there once or 
twice, as much pleased as I was. 

I have long thought of reading Jeremy 
Taylor, for I am persuaded that chopping 
logic in the pulpit, as our divines have 
done ever since the Revolution, is not the 
thing ; but that imagination and warmth of 
expression are in their place there as much as 
on the stage, moderated however, and chastised 
a little by the purity and severity of religion, t 

* This learned and ingenious painter and critic on art, is 
now better known by his writings than pencil. He generally 
painted and wrote in conjunction with his son, his inseparable 
companion and friend. The best account of him is in Wal- 
pole's Anecdotes of Painting and Noble's Continuation of 
Granger, iii. p. 382. He had a fine collection of the drawings 
of the old masters, which sold at his death for above 2,000Z. 
At Strawberry Hill I saw a most interesting pencil drawing 
by him, in four compartments, containing portraits of Lord 
Bolingbroke, of Pope, of Pope's mother, and of Pope's father 
on his death-bed. His works are collected in 2 vols. 8vo. 
See Index to Monthly Eeview, vol. ii. p. 450, on Eichard- 
son's Works. His work on the Pictures, &c. in Italy, was 
translated into French in 1722. Dr. Johnson's commendation 
on the "Treatise on Painting" is mentioned by Mr. North- 
cote, in his Memoir of Eeynolds. As a critic he has received 
the praise of Fuseli. 

f Gray liked Sterne's Sermons. " He thought there was 
good writing and good sense in them. His principal merit 



252 LETTERS or 

I send you my receipt for caviche* (Heaven 
knows against my conscience). Pray, doctor, 
will the weakness of one's appetite justify the 
use of provocatives ? In a few years (I sup- 
pose) you will desire my receipt for tincture 
of cantharides ? I do this the more unwil- 
lingly, because I am sensible that any man is 
rich enough to be an epicure when he has no- 
body to entertain but himself. Adieu, 
I am, a jamais, yours. 

consisted in his pathetic powers, in which he never failed." 
See Works, v. 39. 

* Gray's copy of Verral's Book of Cookery, 8vo. 1759, is 
in my possession, and is enriched by numerous notes in his 
writing, with his usual minute diligence, and remarks on culi- 
nary subjects, arranging the subjects of gastronomy in scientific 
order. 1st. List of furniture necessary for a kitchen, which he 
classes under twelve heads. 2ndly. List of such receipts as 
are primarily necessary in forming essential ingredients for 
others, all accurately indexed to their respective pages. 3rdly. 
Five pages of receipts for various dishes, with the names of the 
inventors. The one referred to in this letter is as follows : 
" Caviche. (From Lord D e .) Take three cloves, four scruples 
of coriander-seeds bruised, ginger powdered, and saffron, of 
each half a scruple, three cloves of garlic ; infuse them in a 
pint of good white wine vinegar, and place the bottle in a 
gentle heat, or in water, to warm gradually. It is to be used 
as catchup, &c. in small quantity, as a sauce for cold meats, 
&c. &c." Probably Gray thought with Donatus on Terentii 
Andria — " Coquina, Medicince jamulatrix est,' 1 v. i. 1, 3; and 
that " Melior Medicince pars appellator Siair^riK??." 



THE POET GBAY. 253 

LETTER LXIV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, p em b. Coll. Feb. 5, 1761. 

When the belly is full, the bones are at rest. 
Yon squat yourself down in the midst of your 
revenues, leave me to suppose that somebody 
has broke in upon the Dean before you, that 
Mr. Beedon has seized upon the precentor ship, 
that you are laid up with a complication of 
distempers at York, that you are dead of an 
apoplexy at Aston, and all the disagreeable 
probabilities that use to befall us, when we 
think ourselves at the height of our wishes ; 
and then away you are gone to town while I 
am daily expecting you here, and the first I 
know of it is from the Gazette. Why, if you 
were Bishop of Lincoln* you could not serve 
one worse. 

* Dr. John Greene, Master of Ben'et College, first appointed 
Bishop of Lincoln in 1761, which he held till his death in 
1779. See note Letter lvi. " A third, that looks mighty 
modest, and has two little horns sprouting, but no mitre yet, 
we take for Dean G." He wrote two pamphlets, " The 
Principles and Practice of the Methodists considered." Mr. 
Tyson has given a list of his writings, among which are a few 
sermons and some " Dialogues of the Dead,' 1 printed in Mr 
Weston's volume. The familiar name given him at the 



254 LETTERS OF 

I wrote to you the same day I received your 
letter, the 11th Jan. and then to Dr. Wharton, 
who sends you his congratulations to be de- 
livered in your way to London; here, take 
them, you miserable precentor. I wish all 
your choir may mutiny, and sing you to death. 
Adieu, I am, ever yours, T. G. 

Commend me kindly to Montagu. 



LETTER LXV. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, London, Feb. 9, 1761. 

If I have not sooner made answer to your kind 
inquiries, it has been owing to the uncertainty 
I was under as to my own motions. Now at 
last, I perceive, I must stay here till March 
and part of April are over, so I have accommo- 
dated myself to it ; and perhaps it may be 
better to come when your codlin hedge is in 
bloom, than at this dull season. My cold, 
which Mr. Bickham told you of, kept me at 
home above three weeks, being at first accom- 

University was "Gamwell;" which appellation he also bears 
in some of the letters of the time. 



THE POET GRAY. 255 

panied with a slight fever, but at present I am 
marvellous. Not a word of the gout yet ; but 
do not say a word, if you do it will come. A 
fortnight ago I had two sheets from Mr. Pitt, 
dated Genoa, Dec. 23 ; he had been thirty days 
in going from Barcelona thither, a passage often 
made in four. He spends the winter with Sir 
Richard Lyttelton,* and hopes to pass the end 
of the carnival at Milan with Lord Strathmore, 
who has been ill at Turin, but is now quite 
recovered. He does not speak with transport of 
Andalusia (I mean of the country, for he describes 

* Richard Lyttelton, K.B. He married the Lady Rachel 
Russell, sister of John Duke of Bedford, and widow of Scrope 
Egerton Duke of Bridgewater. He was first page of honour 
to Queen Caroline ; then successively Captain of Marines, 
Aide-de-Camp to the Earl of Stair at the battle of Dettingen, 
and Deputy Quartermaster-General in South Britain, with the 
rank of Lieut.-Colonel and Lieut. -General, &c. He was fifth 
son of Sir Thomas, fourth baronet, and younger brother of 
George first Lord Lyttelton. See some letters by him in 
Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 173, &c. He was Go- 
vernor of Minorca in 1764, and subsequently Governor of 
Guernsey. See Walpole's Misc. Letters, iv. pp. 363, 424. He 
died in 1770. His house in the Harley Street corner of 
Cavendish Square was bought by the Princess Emily, and was 
afterwards Mr. Hope's, and then Mr. Watson Taylor's. See 
Grenville Papers, i. pp. 49, 249 ; and ii. pp. 442, 449. When 
at Minorca he was involved in some dispute with Samuel 
Johnson, who held a situation under him. See reference to 
it in Walpole'e Letters to Lord Hertford, Feb. 6, 1764. 



256 LETTERS or 

only that in general, and refers for particulars to 
our meeting) : it wants verdure and wood, and 
hands to cultivate it ; but Valencia and Murcia 
(he says) are one continued garden — a shady 
scene of cultivated lands, interspersed with cot- 
tages of reed, and watered by a thousand arti- 
ficial rills. A like spirit of industry appears in 
Catalonia. He has written to Pa. also ; I sup- 
pose to the same purpose. 

The only remarkable thing I have to tell you 
is old "Wortley' s will,* and that, perhaps, you 
know already ; he died worth 600, 000 1. This is 
the least I have heard, and perhaps the truest ; 
but Lord J. and Mr. Montagu tell me to-day 
it is above a million, and that he had near 
800, 000 1, in mortgages only. He gives to his 
son (who is 50,000Z. in debt) 1,000Z. a-year for 
life only. To his wife Lady Mary, if she does 
not claim her dower, 1,200/. a-year, otherwise 
this to go to his son for life, and after him to 
Lady Bute his daughter. To all Lady Bute's 
children, which are eleven, 2,000/. a-piece. To 
Lady Bute, for her life, all the remainder (no 
notice of my Lord) ; and after her, to her se- 
cond son, who takes the name of Wortley ; and 

* See Horace Walpole's Letter to Mann, i. p. 16; and 
Memoirs of George ILL vol. i. p. 76, for account of " old 
Wortley and his wealth ;" and see Letter to Dr. Wharton by 
Gray. See Works, vol. in. p. 272. 



THE POET GRAY. 257 

so to all the sons, and, I believe, daughters too 
in their order ; and if they all die without issue, 
to Lord Sandwich, to whom at present he gives 
some old manuscripts about the Montagu 
family. 

And now I must tell you a little story about 

,* which I heard lately. Upon her 

travels (to save charges), she got a passage in 
the Mediterranean, on board a man-of-war ; I 
think it was Commodore Barnet. When he 
had landed her safe, she told him she knew 
she was not to offer him money, but entreated 
him to accept of a ring in memory of her, 
which (as she pressed him) he accepted. It was 

* Lady Mary Wortley Montague. See another version of 
this story in Gray's Letter to Dr. Wharton, Letter cm. vol, iii. 
p. 274. There is a story told by Mr. J. Pitt (Lord Camelford), 
which makes so good a pendant to the present one, that I may 
be excused for giving it. "I will find you a keepsake like 
that the Duchess of Kingston drew from the bottom of her 
capote for the Consul at Genoa, who had lodged her and 
clothed her I believe, and caressed her for anything I know. 
1 How do you like this diamond ring ?' i Very fine, my lady !' 
1 This ruby ?' < Beautiful!' < This snuff-box ?' < Superb!' &c. &c. 
&c. ' Well, Mr. Consul, you see these spectacles (and here she 
sighed) ; these spectacles were worn twenty years by my dear 
Duke (here she opened the etui, and dropped a tear); take 
them, Mr. Consul, 'wear them for his sake and mine; I could 
not give you a stronger proof of my regard for you." Letter 
of Lord Camelford, Paris, 1789. 

S 



258 LETTERS OF 

a very large emerald. Some time after, a friend 
of his, taking notice of its beauty, he told him 
how he came by it. The man smiled, and de- 
sired him to shew it to a jeweller. He did so ; 
it was unset before him, and proved a paste 
worth 40 shillings. 

And now I am telling stories, I will tell you 
another, nothing at all to the purpose, nor re- 
lating to anybody I have been talking of. 

In the year 1688, my Lord Peterborough * 
had a great mind to be well with Lady Sand- 
wich, Mrs. Bonfoy's old friend. There was a 
woman, who kept a great coffee-house in Pall 
Mall, and she had a miraculous canary-bird, that 
piped twenty tunes. Lady Sandwich was fond 
of such things, had heard of and seen the bird. 

* In a Life of Lord Peterborough lately published, I observe 
with regret a mutilated and inaccurate version of this charm- 
ing story so well told by Gray. This must have been taken 
by the writer from some publication of Mr. Edward Jesse, to 
whom I casually mentioned it in conversation, and who most 
unexpectedly inserted his imperfect recollection of it in his 
work, unmindful of the words used on a similar occasion by 
an old writer. " II arriva a ses ecrits ce que Cujas a toujours 
apprehende qu'il n'arrivent aux siens, que les choses qu'il 
dictait, et que ses amis prenoient sans beaucoup y prendre garde, 
et qu'il ne faisait pas pour etre imprimees, furent faites public 
sans choix et peu correctment." Vide Teissier, Eloges des 
Hommes Scavans. 



THE POET GRAY. 259 

Lord Peterborough came to the woman and of- 
fered her a large sum of money for it ; but she 
was rich, and proud of it, and would not part 
with it for love or money. However, he 
watched the bird narrowly, observed all its 
marks and features, went and bought just such 
another, sauntered into the coffee-room, took his 
opportunity when no one was by, slipped the 
wrong bird into the cage, and the right into 
his pocket, and went off undiscovered to make 
my Lady Sandwich happy. This was just 
about the time of the Revolution, and, a good 
while after, going into the same coffee-house 
again, he saw his bird there, and said, " Well, I 
reckon you would give your ears now that you 
had taken my money." " Money ! " says the 
woman, " no, nor ten times that money now ; 
dear little creature ; for, if your Lordship will 
believe me (as I am a Christian it is true), it has 
moped and moped, and never once opened its 
pretty lips since the day that the poor king 
went away ! " 

Adieu. Old Pa. (spite of his misfortunes) 
talks of coming to town this spring. Could not 
you come too ? My service to Mr. Lyon. 



s2 



260 LETTERS OF 

LETTER LXVL 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

Dear Sir, May 26, 1761. 

I thank you for your kind inquiries and im- 
patience about me. Had I not been so often 
disappointed before, when I thought myself 
sure, I should have informed you before this 
time of my motions. I thought I was just 
setting out for Cambridge, when the man on 
whom I have a mortgage gave me notice 
that he was ready to pay in his money ; so 
that now I must necessarily stay to receive it, 
and it will be (to be sure) the middle of June 
before I can see Cambridge, where I have long 
wished to be. Montagu had thoughts of going 
thither with me, but I know not what his 
present intentions may be. He is in real af- 
fliction for the loss of Sir W. Williams, who 
has left him one of his executors, and (as I 
doubt his affairs were a good deal embarrassed) 
he possibly may be detained in town on that 
account. Mason too talked of staying part of 
the summer with me at Pembroke, but this 
may perhaps be only talk. My Lord* goes 

* Lord Holdernesse. See Walpole's George II. i. pp. 198, 
239, 289; George III. i. p. 42-48. 



THE POET GRAY. 261 

into Yorkshire this summer, so I suppose the 
parson must go with him. You will not see 
any advertisement till next winter at soonest. 
Southwell is going to Ireland for two months, 
much against his will. I have not seen my 
new Lady E.* but her husband I have ; so (I'm 
afraid) I soon must have that honour. God 
send 1 may lie in just about the com- 
mencement, or I go out of my wits, that is all. 
The news of the surrender of Belleisle J is daily 
expected. They have not, nor (they say) pos- 

* By Lady E I have no doubt that Gray meant the 

wife of his friend Sir Henry Erskine, who married this year. 
See Gent. Mag. 1761, p. 246—" Married Sir H. Erskine, 
Colonel of the 25th Regt. to Miss Jenny Wadderborn." In 
Gent. Mag. Feb. 1762, " the lady of Sir Henry Erskine, of a 
son and heir." Sir H. Erskine died in 1765, being then Major- 
General, M.P. for Anstruther, Secretary of the Order of the 
Thistle, and Colonel of the 1st Regt. of Foot. 

"f This, however singularly expressed, no doubt refers to 
the Duke of Newcastle, whose presence at the Cambridge Com- 
memoration Gray appears much to have disliked. See Letter 
xxxv. " The old fizzling Duke is coming again, but I hope 
to be gone first;" and lii. " I am going to Cambridge, if that 
owl Fobus does not hinder me, who talks of going to fizzle 
there at the Commemoration." 

J This place surrendered June 13, 1761. See Grenville 
Papers, i. 364 ; Walpole's History of George III. i. pp. 57, 135 ; 
vol. ii. pp. 13, 223 ; Belsham's History, vol. v. p. 29 ; Adolphus, 
i. p. 32. 



262 LETTERS OF 

sibly can, throw in either men or provisions ; so 
it is looked upon as ours. I know it will be so 
next week, because I am then to buy into the 
Stocks. God bless you. I am ever yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER LXVII. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

Dear Sir, 1761. 

I hope to send you the first intelligence of 
the Church preferments, though such is your 
eagerness there for this sort of news, that per- 
haps mine may be stale before it can reach you. 
Drummond* is Archbishop of York, Hayter 
Bishop of London, Young of Norwich, New- 
ton of Bristol, with the residentiaryship of St. 
Paul's ; Thomas goes to Salisbury ; Greene, of 

* On these promotions of the Bishops, see Walpole's Memoirs 
of George III. vol. i. p. 73, and the Editor's note on Dr. 
Hayter, who was advanced on Lord Talbot's interest. Dr. 
Yonge obtained the mitre of Norwich through the Duke of 
Newcastle. Dr. James Yorke was translated in 1774 from the 
deanery of Lincoln to the bishoprick of St. David's, and in 
1779 to Ely. It was this advancement of Hayter to London 
that so much annoyed and disappointed Warburton. See 
Gray's Works, vol. iv. p. 49, ed. Aid. 



THE POET GRAY. 263 

Ben'et, to Lincoln; James Yorke succeeds to 
his deanery. 

As. to the Queen,* why you have all seen her. 
What need I tell you that she is thin, and not 
tall, fine, clear, light brown hair (not very 

light neither), very white teeth, mouth , 

nose straight and well-formed, turned up a 
little at the end, and nostril rather wide ; com- 
plexion little inclining to yellow, but little 
colour ; dark and not large eyes, hand and arm 
not perfect, very genteel motions, great spirits, 
and much conversation. She speaks French 
very currently. This is all I know, but do not 
cite me for it. 

Mason is come, but I have not seen him ; he 
walks at the Coronation. I shall see the show, 
but whether in the Hall, or only the Proces- 
sion, I do not know yet. It is believed places 
will be cheap. Adieu. 

* See description of the Queen's person in Walpole's Let- 
ters, Sept. 9, vol. iv. p. 169; Memoirs of George III. vol. i. 
p. 71. 



264 LETTERS OE 

LETTER LXVIII. 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

Dear Mr. Gray, Aston, July 20th, 1761. 

The old man was really dying when I wrote 
to you from Stilton ; hut, in spite of all his old 
complaints, in spite of an added fever and 
fistula, he still holds out, has had strength to 
undergo two operations, and is in hopes of a 
perfect recovery. However, if he ever does die, 
I am now sure of succeeding him, and I find 
the ohject of much more importance than I at 
first thought, for, one year with another, by 
fines, &c, the preferment is good 230?. per 
annum. 

The Coronation, &c. prevents Lady Holder- 
nesse from coming into the North ; but I am 
to meet his lordship at Doncaster the day after 
to-morrow, and proceed with him to Aske and 
Hornby.* He will stay in the country only 
three weeks, and I shall follow him to town 

* Hornby Castle, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, 
situated north-west of Ripon. It was an ancient seat of the 
Conyers family; from whom it descended to the Darcies, and 
from them to the Osbornes. The late Duke of Leeds lived 
more at Hornby than at any other seat of his. It must not 
be confounded with another Hornby Castle, at no great distance 
from it, in Lancashire. 



THE POET GRAY. . 265 

three weeks after, as my waiting falls in the 
Coronation month, I wish you would write me 
an epithalamic sermon. It could not fail but 
get me a mitre, next in goodness to Squire's. 

This letter is merely to tell you my motions, 
and so beg you will write to me, under his lord- 
ship's coyer, to Aske,* near Richmond. I was 
at Chatsworth last week, and had the pleasure 
to find Lord John t perfectly recovered. My 
love to Mr. Brown. 

Believe me, dear Mr. Gray, 

Most cordially yours, 

W. Mason. 

* Aske, in Richmondshire, now the seat of the Earl of 
Zetland : it is a hamlet in the parish of Easby. It was the 
seat of Sir Conyers Darcy, K.B., who died there in Dec. 1758. 
Sir Conyers was Lord-Lieutenant of the North Riding, and 
in Parliament for Eichmond and for Yorkshire ; beside hold- 
ing offices about the Court. He was guardian to the last Earl 
of Holdernesse during his long minority, when he resided 
much at Aske, and was in the house at Aston when the great 
fire occurred in a night devoted to Christmas festivities. Sir 
Conyers had no children, and Aske would pass to the Earl 
his nephew, and was probably sold by the Darcies or Osbornes 
to the Dundas family. 

•f Lord John Cavendish: see Lord Mahon's Hist. iii. 287, 
and v. 90. 



266 LETTERS OF 

LETTER LXIX. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON.* 

Dear Mason, August, 1761. 

Be assured your York canon never will die,f 
so the better the thing is in value the worse 
for you. The true way to immortality is tp 
get you nominated one's successor. Age and 
diseases vanish at your name, fevers turn to 
radical heat, and fistulas to issues. It is a 
judgment that waits on your insatiable avarice. 
You could not let the poor old man die at his 
ease when he was about it ; and all his family, 
I suppose, are cursing you for it. 

I should think your motions, if you are not 
perverse, might be so contrived as to bring you 
hither for a week or two in your way to the 
Coronation, and then we may go together to 
town, where I must be early in September. 
Do, and then I will help you to write a # # * 
sermon on this happy occasion. Our friend 
Jeremy Bickham J is going off to a living (better 

* Compare with this Letter the one printed by Mason, 
No. cvn., vol. iii. p. 286, ed. Aid. 

f Mason MS. 

J Jeremy Bickham, Fellow of Emanuel College, B.A. 1740, 
M.A. 1744, B.D. 1751; mentioned in a previous note. 



THE POET GRAY. 267 

than 400Z. a-year) somewhere in the neighbour- 
hood of Mr. Hurd ; and his old flame, that he 
has nursed so many years, goes with him. I 
tell you this to make you pine. 

I wrote to Lord John on his recovery, and 
he answers me very cheerfully, as if his illness 
had been but slight, and the pleurisy were no 
more than a hole in one's stocking. He got it, 
he says, not by scampering, and racketing, and 
heating his blood, as I had supposed, but by 
going with ladies to Vauxhall. He is the pic- 
ture (and pray so tell him if you see him) of 
an old alderman that I knew, who, after living 
forty years on the fat of the land (not milk and 
honey, but arrack-punch and venison), and 
losing his great toe with a mortification, said 
to the last that he owed it to two grapes which 
he eat one day after dinner. He felt them lie 
cold at his stomach the minute they were 
down. 

Mr. Montagu (as I guess at your instigation) 
has earnestly desired me to write some lines to 
be put on a monument, which he means to 
erect at Belleisle.* It is a task I do not love, 
knowing Sir W. Williams so slightly as I did ; 

* See Grenville Papers, i. 364; Walpole's George HE. pp. 
57, 135 ; vol. ii. pp. 13, 223 ; Belsham's Hist. v. p. 29 (7 June, 
1761); Adolphus's Hist. i. p. 32. 



268 LETTERS OE 

but he is so friendly a person, and his affliction 
seemed to me so real, that I could not refuse 
him. I have sent him the following verses, 
which I neither like myself, nor will he, I 
doubt : however, I have showed him that I 
wished to oblige him. Tell me your real 
opinion : — 

Here foremost in the dang'rous paths of fame, 

Young Williams fought for England's fair renown ; 
His mind each muse, each grace adorn'd his frame, 

Nor envy dared to view him with a frown. 
At Aix uncall'd his maiden sword he drew, 

There first in blood his infant glory seal'd ; 
From fortune, pleasure, science, love, he flew, 

And scorn'd repose when Britain took the field. 
With eyes of flame and cool intrepid breast, 

Victor he stood on Belleisle's rocky steeps ; 
Ah gallant youth ! this marble tells the rest, 

WTiere melancholy friendship bends and weeps.* 

Three words below to say who set up the 
monument. 

* For this epitaph, see Gray's Works, ed. Aid. vol. i. p. 93, 
with a few variations: as ver. 5, "At Aix his voluntary sivord 
he drew;" ver. 6, "infant honour ;" ver. 9, "cool undaunted 
breast." See Walpole's Misc Letters, vol. iv. p. 140; Mem. 
of George III. vol. i. p. 57. " There fell Sir W. Williams, a 
gallant and ambitious young man, who had devoted himself 
to war and politics." Also George II. vol. iii. p 231-233; 
Selwyn Correspondence, vol. i. p. 305. Walpole writes to 
G. Mostyn, " You know Sir W. Williams has made Fred. 
Montagu heir to his debts." p. 144. 



THE POET GRAY. 269 

LETTEE LXX. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SIR, London, Sept. 24, 1761. 

I set out at half an hour past four in the 
morning for the Coronation,* and (in the midst 
of perils and dangers) arrived very safe at my 
Lord Chamberlain's box in Westminster Hall. 
It was on the left hand of the throne, over that 
appropriated to the foreign ministers. Oppo- 
site to us was the box of the Earl Marshal and 
other great officers ; and below it that of the 
princess and younger part of the royal family. 

* Compare Walpole's account of the Coronation in his 
Letters to Horace Mann, vol. i. pp. 41-44, and Misc. Letters, 
iv. 171; Adolphus's History, vol. i. p. 35; also Walpole's 
George III. vol. i. p. 73 ; Letters to Conway, xliv. xlv. The 
following description of the Queen was written by a lady of 
high rank in Germany to one in England, 27 July, 1761, and 
is among the MSS. of the British Museum: — " Voulez vous 
le portrait de votre future reine tel qu'il ma ete faite par une 
amie actuellement a Strelitz avec elle ? Cette princesse est 
de menue taille, plutot grande que petite. La taille fine, la 
demarche aisee, la gorge jolie, les mains aussi, le visage rond, 
les yeux bleux et douce, la louche grande mais bien bordee, 
d'un fort bel incarnat, et les plus belles dents du monde, que 
l'ouvrit toutes des qu'elle parle ou rit, extremement blanche, 
dansant tres bien, l'air extremement gracieux et accueillant, 
un grand air de jeunesse, et, sans natterie, elle peut passer 
pour une tres jolie personne. Son caractere est excellent, 
doux, bon, compatissant, sans la moindre fierte." 



270 LETTERS OF 

Next them was the royal sideboard. Then be- 
low the steps of the hcrnt pas were the tables 
of the nobility, on each side quite to the 
door; behind them boxes for the sideboards; 
over these other galleries for the peers' tickets ; 
and still higher the boxes of the Auditor, the 
Board of Green Cloth, &c. All these thronged 
with people head above head, all dressed ; and 
the women with their jewels on. In front of 
the throne was a triomphe of foliage and flowers 
resembling nature, placed on the royal table, 
and rising as high as the canopy itself. The 
several bodies that were to form the procession 
issued from behind the throne gradually and in 
order, and, proceeding down the steps, were 
ranged on either side of hall. All the privy 
councillors that are commoners (I think) were 
there, except Mr. Pitt, mightily dressed in rich 
stuffs of gold and colours, with long flowing 
wigs, some of them comical figures enough. 
The Knights of the Bath, with their high 
plumage, were very ornamental. Of the Scotch 
peers or peeresses that you see in the list very 
few walked, and of the English dowagers as 
few, though many of them were in town, and 
among the spectators. The noblest and most 
graceful figures among the ladies were the 
Marchioness of Kildare (as Viscountess Lein- 



THE POET GRAY. 271 

ster), Viscountess Spencer, Countesses of Har- 
rington, Pembroke, and Strafford, and the 
Duchess of Richmond. Of the older sort (for 
there is a grace that belongs to age too), the 
Countess of Westmoreland, Countess of Albe- 
marle, and Duchess of Queensberry. I should 
mention too the odd and extraordinary appear- 
ances. They were the Viscountess Say and 
Sele, Countesses of Portsmouth and another 
that I do not name, because she is said to be 
an extraordinary good woman, Countess of 
Harcourt, and Duchess of St. Alban's. Of the 
men doubtless the noblest and most striking 
figure was the Earl of Errol, and after him the 
Dukes of Ancaster, Richmond, Marlborough, 
Kingston, Earl of Northampton, Pomfret, Vis- 
count Weymouth, &c. The men were — the Earl 
Talbot (most in sight of anybody), Earls of 
Delaware and Macclesfield, Lords Montford 
and Melcombe; all these I beheld at great 
leisure. Then the princess and royal family 
entered their box. The Queen and then the 
King took their places in their chairs of state, 
glittering with jewels, for the hire of which, 
beside all his own, he paid 9,000£. ; and the 
dean and chapter (who had been waiting with- 
out doors a full hour and half) brought up the 
regalia, which the Duke of Ancaster received 



272 LETTERS OF 

and placed on the table. Here ensued great con- 
fusion in the delivering them out to the lords 
who were appointed to bear them ; the heralds 
were stupid ; the great officers knew nothing of 
what they were doing. The Bishop of Rochester* 

* Zachary Pearce, translated from Bangor. He resigned the 
deanery of Westminster in 1788, and wanted to resign his 
bishopric, but was not permitted by law. He was a very good 
scholar, as his editions of Cicero and Longinus show ; a learned 
divine, and an excellent man, of a modest and unambitious 
temper. In 1739 he was appointed to the deanery of West- 
minster by Sir Eobert Walpole, at the request of Lord 
Hardwicke. In 1747 he accepted the offer of the bishopric 
of Bangor with reluctance, though he promised "to do it 
with a good grace." In 1768 he consulted Lord Mansfield 
and Lord Northampton on the legality of resigning his 
dignities. On the objections raised to his relinquishing the 
see of Eochester, see Lord Dover's note in Walpole's Misc. 
Corresp. iv 49, who says, " The bishopric, as a peerage, is 
inalienable ;" but Walpole, in another letter, says, " The Bishops 
are eager against Dr. Pearce's divorce from his see, not as 
illegal, but improper, and of bad example, have determined the 
King, who left it to them, not to consent to it." p. 403. Lord 
Bath offered his interest to get him translated to London, 
which he declined. See Life of Lord Hardwicke, iii. p. 351. 
See Warburton's Works, vol. xi. p. 355 ; and Welsby's Lives 
of Eminent Judges p. 237, for Dr. Pearce's rise; and his dedi- 
cation of Cicero de Oratore to Lord Macclesfield. Dr. Johnson 
wrote the celebrated dedication to Pearce's learned Commen- 
tary on the Gospels, published in 1777, in 2 vols. 4 to. by his 
chaplain and executor, Rev. J. Derby. 



THE POET GRAY. 273 

would have dropped the crown if it had not 
been pinned to the cushion, and the king was 
often obliged to call out, and set matters right; 
but the sword of state had been entirely forgot, 
so Lord Huntingdon was forced to carry the 
lord mayor's great two-handed sword instead 
of it. This made it later than ordinary before 
they got under their canopies and set forward. 
I should have told you that the old Bishop of 
Lincoln, # with his stick, went doddling by the 
side of the Queen, and the Bishop of Chester 
had the pleasure of bearing the gold paten. 
"When they were gone, we went down to dinner, 
for there were three rooms below, where the 
Duke of Devonshire was so good as to feed us 
with great cold sirloins of beef, legs of mutton, 
fillets of veal, and other substantial viands 
and liquors, which we devoured all higgledy- 
piggledy, like porters ; after which every one 
scrambled up again, and seated themselves. 
The tables were now spread, the cold viands 
eat, and on the king's table and sideboard a 
great show of gold plate, and a dessert repre- 
senting Parnassus, with abundance of figures 
of Muses, Arts, &c, designed by Lord Talbot. 
This was so high that those at the end of the 

* Dr. John Thomas, who was this year translated to Salis- 
bury, and died 1776 ; succeeded at Lincoln by John Greene. 

T 



274 LETTERS OF 

hall could see neither king nor queen at supper. 
When they returned it was so dark that the 
people without doors scarce saw anything of 
the procession, and as the hall had then no 
other light than two long ranges of candles at 
each of the peers' tables, we saw almost as little 
as they, only one perceived the lords and ladies 
sidling in and taking their places to dine ; but 
the instant the queen's canopy entered, fire was 
given to all the lustres at once by trains of 
prepared flax, that reached from one to the 
other. To me it seemed an interval of not half 
a minute before the whole was in a blaze of 
splendour. It is true that for that half minute 
it rained fire upon the heads of all the spec- 
tators (the flax falling in large flakes) ; and the 
ladies, Queen and all, were in no small terror, 
but no mischief ensued. It was out as soon as 
it fell, and the most magnificent spectacle I 
ever beheld remained. The King (bowing to 
the lords as he passed) with his crown on his 
head, and the sceptre and orb in his hands, 
took his place with great majesty and grace. 
So did the Queen, with her crown, sceptre, and 
rod. Then supper was served in gold plate. 
The Earl Talbot, Duke of Bedford, and Earl of 
Effingham,* in their robes, all three on horse- 

* Thomas Harcourt, succeeded 1743; born 1719, died 



THE POET GRAY. 275 

back, prancing and curveting* like the hobby- 
horses in the Rehearsal, ushered in the courses 
to the foot of the haut-pas. Between the 
courses the Champion performed his part with 
applause. The Earl of Denbighf carved for the 
King, the Earl of Holdernesse for the Queen. 
They both eat like farmers. At the board's end, 
on the right, supped the Dukes of York and 
Cumberland ; on the left Lady Augusta ; all of 
them very rich in jewels. The maple cups, the 

1763; lie was Deputy Earl Marshal and Lieutenant-General. 
" A man of considerable talent, but much eccentricity of 
deportment." See account of him in Rockingham Memoirs, 
vol. ii. p. 406. 

* It was "this prancing and curveting" that led to the 
duel between his Lordship and Wilkes. See a good account 
of it in the note to Walpole's Misc. Corr. iv. p< 311, signed 
C. Elizabeth Pitt, sister of Lord Chatham, it is said, lived 
openly with him as his mistress!! See Rockingham Memoirs, 
vol. i. p. 272. 

t Basil Fielding, sixth Earl, succeeded 1755, died 1800. 
He was a Lord of the Bedchamber, and Colonel of the War- 
wickshire Militia. See account of him in Rockingham 
Memoirs, vol. i. p. 261.; and Walpole's George the Third, iv. 
229. He married Mary, daughter of Sir John Bruce Cotton, 
who was a co-heiress. Lord Gower asked him how long the 
honeymoon would last? he answered, "Don't tell me of honey- 
moon, it is harvest-moon with me." He had lived abroad nine 
years with Lord Bolingbroke, and appeared in the Rolliad as 
helping to throw out Fox's India Bill. 

T 2 



276 LETTERS OF 

wafers, the faulcons, &c. were brought up and 
presented in form; three persons were knighted ; 
and before ten the King and Queen retired. 
Then I got a scrap of supper, and at one 
o'clock I walked home. So much for the spec- 
tacle, which in magnificence surpassed every 
thing I have seen. Next I must tell you that 
the Barons of the Cinque Ports, who by ancient 
right should dine at a table on the haut-pas, 
at the right hand of the throne, found that no 
provision at all had been made for them, and, 
representing their case to Earl Talbot, he told 
them, " Gentlemen, if you speak to me as High 
Steward, I must tell you there was no room for 
you ; if as Lord Talbot, I am ready to give you 
satisfaction in any way you think fit." They 
are several of them gentlemen of the best 
families; so this has bred ill blood. In the 
next place, the City of London found they 
had no table neither; but Beckford* bullied 

* The well-known Alderman Beckford, Member for the 
City, and twice Mayor of London, father of a more illustrious 
son. He died during his mayoralty in 1770. " Alderman 
Beckford stood up for the immemorial privileges of his order 
to fare sumptuously, and intimated to the Lord Steward that 
it was hard if the citizens should have no dinner when they 
must give the King one, which would cost them ten thousand 
pounds ; the menace prevailed, and the municipal board was at 
last desirably furnished." See Rockingham Memoirs, i. p. 279. 



THE POET GRAY. 277 

my Lord High- Steward till he was forced to 
give them that intended for the Knights of 
the Bath, and instead of it they dined at the 
entertainment prepared for the great officers. 
Thirdly. Bussy was not at the ceremony.* He 
is just setting out for Prance. Spain has 
supplied them with money, and is picking a 
quarrel with us about the fishery and the log- 
wood, t Mr. Pitt says so much the better, and 
was for recalling Lord Bristol directly ; J how- 
ever, a flat denial has been returned to their 
pretensions. When you have read this send it 
to Pa. 

* " Bussy is personally indisposed to this country. This I 
have long thought, and I am now convinced of it." Jenkinson 
to Mr. Grenville, i. 367, June 16, 1761. Bussy went to Court 
(Aug. 1761) ; he appeared as a stranger. Ibid. p. 373. 

f " The fisheries are to be left to France, but not Cape 
Breton." Ibid. pp. 372, 379, 387. 

\ "It is humbly submitted to his Majesty's wisdom that 
orders be forthwith sent to the Earl of Bristol to deliver a 
declaration signed by his Excellency, and to return imme- 
diately to England without taking leave ;" the celebrated advice 
in writing given to the King, previous to the resignation of 
Mr. Pitt and Lord Temple. See Grenville Papers, i. p. 386. 
See high praise of him in Rockingham Memoirs, vol. i. p. 56. 
Lord Bristol died in 1775. 



278 LETTERS OE 

LETTER LXXL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, London, Oct 1761. 

Perhaps you have not yet hanged yourself ; 
when yon do (as doubtless you must be think- 
ing of it), be so good as to give me a day or 
two's notice that I may be a little prepared. 
Yet who knows, possibly your education at St. 
John's, in conjunction with the Eishop of 
Gloucester,* may suggest to you that the naked 
Indian that found Pitt's diamond t made no 
bad bargain when he sold it for three oyster- 
shells and a pompon of glass beads to stick in 
his wife's hair ; if so, you may live and read on. 

Last week I had an application from a broken 
tradesman (whose wife I knew) to desire my 

* William Warburton. 

■j" Allusion to Pope's lines, — 

Asleep and naked as an Indian lay, 
An honest factor stole a gem away. 

Moral Essays, Epist. iii. 
Mad. de Genlis, in her " Abrege de l'Histoire de la Regence," 
says, " Le diamant le pins gros et le plus parfait de l'Europe 
on le nomme - le Regent] et quelquefois ' le Pitt] du nom de 
vendeur, Secretaire cCEtat en Angleterre. On en demandoit 
quatre millions, mais on le donna pour deux. II pese six 
cent grains. Pitt l'avoit acquis d'un ouvrier des mines du 
Mogul;"— with as many mistakes as words. 



THE POET GRAY. 279 

interest with the Duke of Newcastle for a tide- 
waiter's place; and he adds, " Sir, your speedy 
compliance with this will greatly oblige all our 
family." This morning before I was up, Dr. 
Morton, of the Museum,* called here and left 
the inclosed note. He is a mighty civil man ; 
for the rest you know him full as well as I do ; 
and I insist that you return me a civil answer. 
I do not insist that you should get him the 
mastership ; on the contrary, I desire (as any 
body would in such a case) that you will get it 
for yourself; as I intend, when I hear it is 
vacant, to have the tide-waiter's place, if I miss 
of the Privy Seal and Cofferership. 

Yours, T. G. 



LETTER LXXIL 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

Dear Sir, Nov. Sat. 1761. 

Your letter has rejoiced me, as you will 
easily believe, and agreeably disappointed me. 

* Dr. Charles Morton, of the British Museum, ie mentioned 
by Lord Chesterfield in his Letters, vol. i. p. 38. He was Keeper 
of the MSS. and Medals, and, after the death of Dr. Maty, 
principal librarian. He died Feb. 10, 1799. See Nichols's 
Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 619. 



280 LETTERS OF 

I congratulate you in the first place ; and ani 
very glad to see the college have had the spirit 
and the sense to do a thing so much to their 
own credit, and to do it in a handsome manner. 
My hest service to Mr. Lyon;* and tell him it 
will he a great disohligation if my lady takes 
him away to pass the Christmas with her, just 
when I am proposing to visit him in his new 
capacity. I hope to he with you in about a 
week, hut will write again before I come. Do 
persuade Mr. Delaval to stay ; tell him I will 

say anything he pleases of 

Have you read the negociations ? I speak 
not to Mr. Delaval, but to you. The French 
have certainly done Mr. Pitt service in pub- 
lishing them. The spirit and contempt he has 
shown in his treatment of Bussy's proposals, t 
whether right or wrong, will go near to restore 
him to his popularity, and almost make up for 

* Thomas Lyon, Fellow of Pembroke College 1761, third 
son of Thomas Lord Strathmore ; admitted Fellow Commoner 
1756, elected Fellow November 1761, and vacated his Fel- 
lowship in 1767; his new capacity must mean as Fellow. 
James Philip Lyon, the second son of Lord Strathmore, was 
admitted Fellow Commoner in 1756, the same year as Gray. 

■f See Adolphus's History, vol. i. p. 39-41 ; Walpole's 
Misc. Letters, i. p. 250; Walpole's History of George III. 
vol. i. pp 58, 133; Grenville Papers, vol. i. p. 379; ii. p. 220. 
In the Rockingham Papers, i p. 22, his character is sketched. 



THE POET GRAY. 281 

the disgrace of the pension.* My Lord Temple 
is outrageous ; he makes no scruple of declar- 
ing that the Duke of JNT.f and Lord Bute were 
the persons whose frequent opposition in coun- 
cil were the principal cause of this resignation. 
He has (as far as he could) disinherited his 
brother Gr. Grenville, J that is of about 4000£. 

* The title and pension given to Mr. Pitt which occasioned 
so much animadversion, and is supposed to have deprived the 
great Commoner, for a short time, of much of his popu- 
larity. See on this subject the Grenville Papers, vol. i. p. 418 ; 
ii. p. 519; when, in a conversation with the Duke of York, 
Mr. Grenville said on the subject of this pension, " he thought 
it the highest and most honourable testimony which the King 
could bestow, or a subject receive, at the moment of quitting 
the King's service, upon differing with his whole administra- 
tion." See also Life of Lord Hardwicke by Mr. Harris on 
this subject, vol. iii. p. 256. It appears that Lord Chatham 
would not have his pension on the Civil List, but it was 
placed on a duty of 4|- per cent. See also on this interesting 
subject Walpole's George III. vol. i. pp. 82, 86 note ; Adolphus's 
History, vol. i. p. 47 ; Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. 
p. 146-153 and 158, for the explanatory Letter written by 
Lord Chatham to the Lord Mayor. See Walpole's Misc. 
Corr. iv. 131. 

t Newcastle. See Grenville Papers, vol. i. p. 388, and 
vol. ii. p. 402. 

% See Grenville Papers, vol. ii. pp. 404, 408, on Lord 
Temple's gift of 5000Z. to his brother George Grenville's sons ; 
and see for a judicious survey of Lord Temple's character 
Quarterly Keview, No. clxxx. p. 576, art. ix. 



282 LETTERS OF 

a-year, his father's estate; and yesterday he 
made a very strange speech in the Honse that 
surprised every body. The particulars I can- 
not yet hear with certainty ; but the Duke of 
Bedford replied to it. Did you observe a very 
bold letter in the Gazette of Thursday last 
about Oarr Earl of Somerset ?* How do you like 
the King's speech ?f It is Lord Hardwicke's. 
How do you like Hogarth's perriwigs ? I sup- 
pose you have discovered the last face $ in the 

* This allusion is, of course, to the growing favour of Lord 
Bute. At this time great irritation was felt at the resignation of 
Mr. Pitt and the increasing favouritism and influence of Lord 
Bute, and very strong letters were written in the papers ; but I 
have not found the letter to which Gray alludes. The London 
Gazette was only an official paper. In Lloyd's Evening Post 
of that period and month are several letters on the subject: 
to what particular paper Gray alluded it seems difficult to 
say. There were, besides the two papers mentioned above, 
" Reed's Weekly Journal" and the London Chronicle, which 
may be found in the Catalogue of the British Museum. Two 
Letters to the Earl of Bute are advertised this month, Nov. 
1761, in Lloyd's paper. 

j* Belsham says, " The Session was opened by a well-com- 
posed speech from the throne," vol. i. p. 58; and Adolphus, 
Hist. i. p. 14 ; and the note on that part said to have been 
written by the King's own hand. See Grenville Papers, 
vol. i. p. 416. (Earl of Bute to Mr. Grenville.) 

J Gray alludes to Queen Charlotte. She is without a 
coronet, the last in rank, and the first on the left hand of the 
picture. 



THE POET GRAY. 283 

rank of peeresses to be a very great personage ; 
extremely like, though, you never saw her. 
Good night. 

I am ever yours, T. G. 



LETTER LXXIIL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Peinb. Hall, Deer. 8, 1761. 

Of all loves come to Cambridge out of hand, 
for here is Mr. Delaval and a charming set of 
glasses that sing like nightingales;* and we 
have concerts every other night, and shall stay 
here this month or two ; and a vast deal of 
good company, and a whale in pickle just come 
from Ipswich ; and the man will not die, and 
Mr. Wood is gone to Chatsworth ; and there is 
nobody but you and Tom and the curled dog ; 

* See Walpole's Misc. Letters, vol. ii. p. 111. " Gluck, a 
German. He is to have a benefit, at which he is to play on a 
set of drinking-glasses, which he modulates with water. I 
think I have heard you speak of having seen some such thing." 
They were much in fashion about this time. In the St. James's 
Chronicle, Dec. 3rd, 1761, is an advertisement: "At Mr. 
Sheridan's lecture on Elocution, Miss Lloyd succeeds Miss 
Ford in performing on the musical glasses for the amusement of 
genteel company.- 1 



284 LETTERS OF 

and do not talk of the charge, for we will make 
a subscription; besides, we know you always 
come when you have a mind. T. G. 



LETTER LXXIV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR MASON, Cambridge, Jan. 11, 1762. 

It is a mercy that old men are mortal, and 
that dignified clergymen know how to keep 
their word. I heartily rejoice with you in 
your establishment, and with myself that I 
have lived to see it — to see your insatiable 
mouth stopped, and your anxious perriwig at 
rest and slumbering in a stall. The Bishop 
of London,* you see, is dead ; there is a fine 
opening. Is there nothing farther to tempt 
you? Peel your own pulse, and answer me 
seriously. It rains precentorships ; you have 
only to hold up your skirt and catch them. 

* Thomas Hayter succeeded Bishop Sherlock, translated 
from Norwich 1761; died the following year; succeeded 
by Thomas Osbaldeston, 1762. See Grenville Papers, ii. 
p. 384. " The great point now in town is, whether Thomas 
of Lincoln, or Hayter of Norwich, is to be Bishop of London " — 
Lord Egremont to Mr. Grenville. 



THE POET GRAY. 285 

I long to embrace you in your way to court. 
I am still here, so are the Glasses and their 
master. The first still delight me; I wish I 
could say as much for the second. Come, how- 
ever, and see us, such as we are. Mr. Brown 
is overjoyed at the news, yet he is not at all 
well. I am (which is no wonder, being un- 
dignified and much at leisure,) entirely yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER LXXV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR DOCTOR, Cambridge, March 17, 1762. 

I send your reverence the lesson, which is 
pure good-nature on my part, knowing already, 
as I do, that you do not like it. No sooner 
do people feel their income increase than they 
want amusement. Why, what need have you 
of any other than to sit like a Japanese divi- 
nity with your hands folded on your fat belly, 
wrapped and, as it were, annihilated in the con- 
templation of your own copuses and revenues ? 
The pentagrapher is gone to town, so you have 
nothing to do but to go and multiply in your 
own vulgar way ; only don't fall to work and 
forget to say grace. 



286 LETTERS OF 

The laureate has honoured me (as a friend of 
yours, for I know no other reason,) with his 
new play and his Charge to the Poets :* the 
first very middling; the second I am pleased 
with, chiefly with the sense, and sometimes 
with the verse and expression ; and yet the 
best thing he ever wrote was that Elegy against 
Friendship you once showed me, where the 
sense was detestable ;t so that you see it is 
not at all necessary a poet should be a good 
sort of man — no, not even in his writings. 

* The new play of Mr. Whitehead was " The School for 
Lovers," acted at Dmry Lane 1762. His poem was " Address 
to youthful Poets, a poetic Charge." " This," says Mr. Cole- 
ridge, " is perhaps the best and certainly the most interesting 
of his works." See Biograph. Lit. i. p. 222. This Charge 
brought on him the vindictive resentment of Churchill, who 
attacked the Laureate with a very reprehensible severity. 
See Anderson's Life of Whitehead, p. 897, and Mason's Life 
of Whitehead, p. 106. The portrait of Whitehead, from 
which the print before his works is taken, has been kindly 
presented to me from Aston. 

"f See Whitehead's Works, vol. ii. p. 129. On the subject 
of this poem, see a passage in Life of Whitehead, by Mason, 
p. 40, in which it appears that Gray gave very high commen- 
dation to it in point of poetry, but much disapproved the 
general sentiment it conveyed; saying that it ought to be 
entitled " a Satire on Friendship," and much more to the 
same purpose, &c. Mason suspects that the loss of Mr. Charles 
Townsh end's friendship led Whitehead to write this poem. 



THE POET GRAY. 287 

Bob Lloyd has published his works in a just 
quarto volume, containing, among other things, 
a Latin translation of my Elegy ; an epistle, in 
which is a very serious compliment to me by 
name,* particularly on my Pindaric accomplish- 
ments ; and the very two odes you saw before, 
in which we were abused, and a note to say 
they were written in concert with his friend 
Mr. Colman; so little value have poets for 
themselves, especially when they would make 

* Anderson says that Lloyd collected his poems in a 4to, 
volume, 1762, for which he obtained a very liberal subscrip- 
tion. They were reprinted in 2 vols. 8vo. 1774, with an 
account of his life by Dr. Kenrick. His praise of Gray occurs 
in his Epistle to Churchill : — 

" What muse like Gray's shall pleasing, pensive, flow, 
Attempered sweetly to the rustic woe ; 
Or who like him shall sweep the Theban lyre, 
And, as his master, pour forth thoughts of fire ?" 

The Latin translation by him of Gray's Elegy is not to be 
praised for propriety or elegance of classical expression, in 
which Vincent Bourne stands unrivalled; but that this poem 
was not a good subject to select, has been proved by the un- 
successful attempts of others to transfer its beauties into the 
ancient languages. How are these lines to be translated into 
the words of those who had neither long-drawn aisles nor 
pealing anthems ? 

" When through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault, 
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise." 



288 LETTERS OE 

up a just volume. Mr. Delap is here, and has 
brought his cub to Trinity. He has picked up 
again purely since his misfortune, and is fat 
and well, all but a few bowels. He says Mrs. 
Pritchard spoilt his Hecuba* with sobbing so 
much, and that she was really so moved that 
she fell in fits behind the scenes. I much like 
Dr. Lowth's Grammar ;f it is concise, clear, and 
elegant. He has selected his solecisms from 
all the best writers of our tongue. I hear 
Mr. Hurd is seriously writing against Pingal, 
by the instigation of the devil and the bishop.^ 
Can it be true ? I have exhausted all my lite- 
rary news, and I have no other. Adieu. 

I am truly yours, 

T. G. 

Mr. Brown has got a cap, and hopes for a 
suitable hood. You must write a line to tell 
him how to send them. I go to town on 
Monday, but direct to me here. 

* The Hecuba of Dr. Delap was acted in 1762, and met 
with very indifferent success. Baker, in his Biog. Dramatica, 
professes entire ignorance of the author, except his name. 

| The first edition of Bishop Lowth's Grammar was in 
1762. See on its merits, Home Tooke's Diversions of Purley, 
vol. ii. p. 90, and Mitford's Harmony of Language, p. 377. 

J Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester. 



THE POET GRAY. 289 

LETTER LXXVI. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR MASON, Monday, Pemb. Hall, 1762. 

If you still are residing and precenting at 
York, I feel a great propensity to visit you 
there in my way northwards. Do not be fright- 
ened ; for I do not mean to be invited to yonr 
house. I can bring many reasons against it, 
but will content myself with referring you to 
Mr. Whitehead's Satire on Friendship, the senti- 
ment of which you thought as natural as I did 
the verses. I therefore desire of you to procure 
me a lodging by the week (the cheaper the 
better), where there is a parlour, and bed- 
chamber, and some closet (or other place near 
it) for a servant's bed. Perhaps I may stay a 
fortnight, and should like, when I have a mind, 
to have any little thing dressed at home; pro- 
bably I may arrive next week, but you shall 
have exacter notice of my motions when they 
are settled. 

Dr. Delap (your friend) is here, and we cele- 
brate very cordially your good qualities in spite 
of all your bad ones. We are rather sorry that 
you, who have so just a sense of the dignity of 
your function, should write letters of wit and 

u 



290 LETTERS OF 

humour to Lord D.* and his sweet daughter in 
the Hoyal (I think it is) or Lady's Magazine ; 
but you are very rightly served for your vivacity 
and reflection upon poor K. Hunter, t Adieu. 
I am truly yours, 

T. G. 

Pray write a line directly to say if you are 
at York. 

* There is no Lady's Magazine of that date in the British 
Museum. There is the "Royal or Gentleman's Magazine:'''' 
through the volumes of 1761 and 1762 I have looked, but no 
letters to Lord D. and his daughter appear in them. 

f See Walpole's Misc. Corr. iv. 211-214. " In all your read- 
ing, true or false, have you heard of a young Earl, married to the 
most beautiful woman in the world, Lord of the Bedchamber, 
a general officer, and with a great estate, quitting everything, — 
his young wife, world, property, for life, in a pacquet-boat 
with a Miss ! I fear your connexion will but too readily lead 
you to the name of the peer; it's Henry Earl of Pembroke, 
the nymph Kitty Hunter. The town and Lady Pembroke 
were first witnesses to the intrigue, last Wednesday, at a great 
ball given at Lord Middleton's ; on Thursday they decamped." 
The peer was Henry, tenth Earl of Pembroke, who married 
in March, 1756, Lady Elizabeth Spencer, second daughter of 
the third Duke of Marlborough. They lived for some time 
separated, but he afterwards ran away with her ! ! They were 
reconciled and lived together. See Walpole to G. Montague, 
March 29, 1763, for some additional anecdotes on this subject. 



THE POET GRAY. 291 

LETTEE LXXVIL 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SIR, Old Park, July 19, 1762. 

After my fortnight's residence at York, I am 
arrived here. The Precentor is very hopefully 
improved in dignity ; his scarf sets the fullest 
about his ears ; his surplice has the most the 
air of lawn-sleeves you can imagine in so short 
a time ; he begins to complain of qualms and 
indigestions from repose and repletion : in 
short il tranche du JPrelat* We went twice 
a- day to church with our vergers and all our 
pomp. Here the scene is totally altered : we 
breakfast at six in the morning, and go to bed 
at ten. The house rings all day with carpen- 
ters and upholsterers, and without doors we 
swarm with labourers and builders. The books 
are not yet unpacked, and there is but one pen 

* Mason was a Residentiary of York Cathedral, Precentor, 
Prebendary of Duffield, and Rector of Aston. " Mason," Gray 
writes to Dr. Wharton, " is Residentiary of York, which is 
worth near 200Z. a-year. He owes it to our friend, Fr. 
Montagu, who is brother-in-law to Dean Fontayne. The 
precentorship, worth as much more, being vacant at the same 
time, Lord Holdernesse has obtained that for him. He may 
now, I think, wait for the exit with patience, and shut his 
insatiable repining mouth." See Works, iii. p. 263. Mason 

u 2 



292 LETTERS OF 

and ink in the house. Jetty and Fadge (two 
favourite sows) are always corning into the 
entry, and there is a concert of poultry under 
every window : we take in no newspaper or 
magazine, but the cream and butter is beyond 
compare. You are wished for every day, and 
you may imagine how acceptable a corre- 
spondent you must be. Pray write soon, and 
believe me ever sincerely yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER LXXVIII. 
TO THE KEY. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Cambridge, Dec, 21, 1762. 

As to my pardon, for which you supplicate, 
you know too well how easily it is obtained 
without any reason at all ; but now I have a 
very good one, as I have read the third book 
of the Ghost, # where Churchill has so mumbled 

much disliked his residences at York . It was there that he 
became acquainted with Sterne, who held some preferment in 
the cathedral. 

* See Walpole's Memoirs of George III. vol. iii. p. 149. The 
editor says, " Churchill mentions the Ghost, only as a peg to hang 
the satire upon. It has much vigour ; but a key is wanted, and 
probably no one can supply one to the allusions, or even the 
regularly drawn characters of the greater part. Johnson, 



THE POET GRAY. 293 

Mr. Whitehead, to whom you owe all your 
principles (see the unpublished elegy de Ami- 
citia), that it would be base in me to demand 
any farther satisfaction. This only I shall add, 
that I would rather steal the Laureate's verses 
than his sentiments. 

I am sorry for the disageeable event you 
mention, which I learnt by mere accident from 
Mr. Curtail in a coffee-house. I do not doubt 

Warburton, Mansfield, and one or two more, appear in it." 
Mason, in his Life of Whitehead, alludes to* these attacks, and 
particularly to the Ghost (p. 109) ; and he found among White- 
head's papers some unprinted fragments of a counter-scuffle 
which the Laureate was preparing, beginning — 

" So from his common place, when Churchill strings 
Into some motley form his damned good things," &c. 

It was Wilkes's design to give an edition of Churchill's 
Poems, in which much interesting information would have 
been afforded, and much obscurity removed. Lloyd allows 
that in this poem Churchill threw his dirt about with more 
than his usual abandonment. 

" Whose muse, now queen, and now a slattern, 
Tricked out in Eosciad, rules the roast, 
Turns trapes and trollop in the Ghost.'" 

It is unfortunate for our present purpose that Gray's manu- 
script notes on Churchill's poems which I possess, and which 
are copious on the Eosciad and some other of Churchill's 
poems, are entirely wanting in the Ghost; for in Gray's copy 
of Churchill's Poems, collected as they appeared, and bound 
up by him in one volume, the Ghost is omitted. 



294 LETTERS OE 

it must have taken up a good deal of your 
thoughts and time, and should wish to know 
whether there are any hopes of the poor fellow's 
recovery. 

We have received your poetical packet and 
delivered them to the several parties. The 
sentiments we do not remark, as we can find 
nothing within ourselves congenial to them : 
for the expression, we hint (but in a low, timid 
voice) that there is a want of strength and 
spirit; in short, they are nothing like the 
choruses in Elfrida, only the lines that relate 

to Lady C 's beauty have made a deep 

impression upon us ; we get them by heart 
and apply them to our sempstresses and bed- 
makers. This is (I think) the sum and substance 
of our reflections here; only Mrs. Rutherford 
observes that there is great delicacy and ten- 
derness in the manner of treating so frail a 

character* as that of Lady C , and that 

you have found a way to reconcile contempt 

* Probably the stanza — 
" Each look, each motion, worked a new-born grace, 
That o'er her form its transient glory cast," &c. 
The praises of Lady Coventry's beauty in Walpole's and 
Selwyn's Letters are too well known to be repeated here. I 
will therefore give an account by the Duchess of Somerset, 
which has not been quoted. " I saw Lady Coventry there, 
who certainly is very handsome, but appears rather too tall 



THE POET GRAY. 295 

and compassion : these might not be her words, 
but this was the sense of them ; I don't believe 
she had it from the doctor. 

I rejoice (in a weakly way you may be sure, 
as I have not seen him some years, and am in 
so different a way of life), but I rejoice to hear 
of any accession to Mr. Hurd's fortune,* as I do 
not believe he will be anything the worse for it. 
Forrester (whom I perceive you can still re- 
member) is removed from Eastonf to a better 
living by his patron Lord Maynard, on purpose 
to get rid of him ; for Easton is his own parish, 
and he was sick to death of his company. He 
is now seated just by his brother Pulter, J and 
they are mortal foes. 

to be genteel, and her face rather smaller than one could wish, 
considering the height it is placed, and her dress appeared 
more in the style of an opera-dancer than an English lady of 
quality. Lady Di. Egerton and Mrs. Selwyn, granddaughter 
to Miss Townshend, appeared either of them fully as pretty 
in my eyes, with the addition of great modesty." The ex- 
pression " so frail a character " alludes to the general rumour 
at the time, that Lord Bolinghrohe had been too much in the 
good graces of the Countess. 

* Mr. Hurd had the sinecure Rectory of Folkton, near 
Bridlington, Yorkshire,, given him by the Lord Chancellor 
(Earl of Northington), on the recommendation of Mr. Allen, 
of Prior Park, Nov. 2, 1762. 

■j" Near Dunmow, Essex, the seat of Lord Maynard. 

\ His brother, " Poulter Forrester." 



296 LETTERS or 

Mr. Brockett has got old Turner's professor- 
ship, and Delaval lias lost it. # When we meet 
I have something to tell you on this subject. 
I hope to continue here till March ; if not, I 
shall inform you. How does the peace agree 
with you ? Adieu. 

I am ever yours. 



LETTER LXXXX. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, Aston, Jan. 15th, 1763. 

I send you with this a drawing of the ruin 
you were so much pleased with when you saw 
it at York.f I take it certainly to have been 

* In a manuscript pocket-book of Gray's, at Aston, of the 
year 1762, I read the following entry: — "Nov. 4. Prof. 
asked of D. of N. by Lord P. and Sir F. B. D. (i.e. Sir Francis 
Blake Delaval). — Saturday, Nov. 1762. Heard for certain that 

the professorship is given away, and not to D —1." On 

Delaval, a Fellow of Pembroke College, see Gray's Works, 
vol. iii. p. 27 ; iv. p. 222 ; and Nicholls' and Gray's Corres- 
pondence, p. 76, " Delaval is an honest gentleman." Sir Henry 
Erskine applied to Lord Bute for Gray; " Next to myself," 
Gray writes, " I wished for it for him," (Delaval). See Works, 
iii. p. 301. 

f A small Gothic chapel near the north-west end of York 
Cathedral, with which Mr, Gray was much struck by the 
beautiful proportion of the windows. See Gray's Works, iii. 



THE POET GRAY. 297 

the chapel of St. Sepulchre, founded by Arch- 
bishop Roger, of which Dugdale has given us 
the original chccrta fundationis ; but, as this 
opinion seems to contradict the opinion of 
Torre, and of Drake too, who follows him, it is 
necessary to produce authentic authority in 
proof of my assertion. These two learned anti- 
quaries suppose that the chapel in question 
joined to the minster. Thus Torre : " Roger 
(Archbishop) having built against the great 
church a chapel." And Drake : " Roger was 
buried in the cathedral, near the door of St. 
Sepulchre's chapel, which he himself had 
founded." *— Vide Drake's Ebor., p. 478, p. 421. 
Prom these accounts we should be led to con- 
clude that this chapel was as much and as close 
an appendage to the minster as the chapter- 
house is ; but the original records, on which 
they found this opinion, may I think be con- 
strued very differently. 

Archbishop Roger himself, in his cliarta 
fundationis, describes its situation thus : — 

p. 303. See cut of it in Drake's and Burton's Histories of 
York. The history and date of it has, I understand, been 
a subject of much controversy. 

* " The present tomb of Archbishop Roger is even of a later 
date than Melton. I suspect the body to have been removed, 
and the tomb to have been erected about Henry VIII. 's time." 
MS. note of Dr. Whitaker. 



298 LETTERS OF 

" capellam quam juxta majorem ecclesiam ex- 
truximus." "Juxta" is surely "near" only, 
not " adjoining ;" and this ruin is near enough. 
In the extract of this archbishop's life, from an 
ancient MS. which Dugdale also gives us, we 
find these words, " Condidit etiam Capellam 
Sancti Sepulchri ad januam ipsius Palatii ex 
parte boreali juxta eccl'am S. Petri." The ruin 
in question might very probably be connected 
with the palace gate by a cloister, of which on 
one side there are a string of arches remaining; 
and on the outside of the minster, oyer the 
little gate next the tomb, there are also vestiges 
of the roof of a cloister, which I imagine went 
aside the palace gateway, and connected the 
three buildings ; vide plan. But between this 
little gate and the palace gate (which still 
remains) it is very evident there was no room 
for anything but a cloister, for I do not think 
they are twenty yards asunder. 

The last and only further account I can find 
of the situation is from the same Life, where 
it is said the canons of St. Peter, "gravitermur- 
murabant super situ dicta? capelhe eo quod 
nimis adhsesit matrici ecclesige." 

This I think need not be translated literally ; 
the word "nimis" leads one to a metaphorical 
sense. The priests of St. Sepulchre were too 
near neighbours to St. Peter's canons, and 



THE POET GRAY. 299 

were troublesome to them ; accordingly . we 
find the archbishop, to quiet matters, ordered 
that the saint of his chapel should make them 
a recompense, which is in this extract stated. 

To these arguments I would add, that Arch- 
bishop Roger's donation was very great (as we 
find in Drake) to this chapel ; and, from the 
number of persons maintained in its service, I 
question not but there was a large convent 
built round it, of which there are plainly the 
foundations still to be seen ; and what puts the 
matter out of all doubt that this building was 
separate and entire, though indeed near to the 
minster, is the following fact, viz. that the 
tithes of the chapel and chapel itself were sold 
to one Webster, anno 42 Elizabeth : " Capella 
vocat. St. Sepulcre's Chapell prope Eccles. 
Cath. Ebor. cum decimis ejusdem. W. Webster. 
Ap. 4, anno 4 Eliz." — Rolls. Ghap. Thus you 
see the "juxta" and "prope" are clearly on my 
side; the "nimis aclhgesit" is equivocal. I 
conclude with a rude draught of the platform 
according to my idea, but without any mensura- 
tion, and merely to explain what has been said. 
I am with the greatest respect and deference to 
your sagacity, Yours, &c. &c. &c. 

P.S. I ought to mention to you, that in 
the transept (I think you call it) of the church, 



300 



LETTERS OF 




namely, at B, there is at the top over the large 
pillars, a range of stonework like the windows 
in the ruin, viz. three pointed arches under 
a circular one, but of a clumsy proportion. 
This part I think you said was the oldest in 
the minster. Johnny Ludlam * found this out. 

* There were two persons well known in literature and 
science, the Rev. William and the Rev. Thomas Ludlam, both 
Fellows of St. John's College. William was M.A. 1742, and 
died 1788; Thomas was M.A. 1752, and died 1811. They 
were both highly esteemed by Dr. Balguy and Dr. Ogden ; and 
Bishop Hurd was so pleased with the merits of the Essays on 



THE POET GRAY. 301 

Perhaps it contradicts all I have been saying, 
and proves the building nmch older than Arch- 
bishop Hoger. 



LETTER LXXX. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DOCTISSIME DOMINE, Eeb. 8, 1763. 

Anne tibi arrident complimenta ? * If so, I 
hope your vanity is tickled with the nerglie 
dloro of Count Algarotti, and the intended 
translation of Signor Agostino Paradisi. For 
my part I am ravished (for I too have my 
share), and moreover astonished to find myself 
the particular friend of a person so celebrated 
for his politezza e dottrina as my cousin Taylor 
Howe.f Are you upon the road to see all these 

Theological Subjects as to contribute to the expense of the 
publication. My friend Mr. Nichols agrees with me in 
thinking that one of these brothers was alluded to: the 
familiar name Johnny being given to him from his residence 
at St. John's College. 

* A foreign scholar dining at Pembroke College, when the 
conversation was carried on in Latin, one of the Fellows ad- 
dressed him in these words : " Domine, anne tibi arrident 
herbse?" — (Sir, do you choose any greens?) MS. Note of Dr. 
Bennet, Bishop of Cloyne. See Gray's Works, ed. Aid. iii. 
p. 303. 

•f William Taylor Howe, Esq. of Standon Place, near Ongar, 
Essex, an honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, '" now on his 



302 LETTERS OF 

wonders, and snuff up the incense of Pisa, or has 
Mr. Brown abated your ardour by sending you 
the originals ? I am waiting with impatience 
for you and Mr. Hurd, though (as the Bishop 
of Gloucester has broke his arm*) I cannot 
expect him to stay here, whatever you may do. 
I am obliged to you for your drawing, and 
very learned dissertation annexed. You have 
made out your point with a great degree of 
probability (for, though the " nimis adhsesit" 

travels in Italy, where he made acquaintance with Count Alga- 
rotti, and had recommended to him Gray's Poems and Mason's 
Dramas. After their perusal he received a letter from the 
Count, written in that style of superlative panegyric peculiar 
to Italians. The Count also addressed Signor Paradisi, a 
Tuscan poet, advising him to translate Mason's Dramas, par- 
ticularly Caractacus." — Mason. Lord Chesterfield says, "Count 
Algarotti is a young Fontenelle." See his Letters, vol. iv. p. 384. 
See also Gray's Works, vol. iv. Lett. cxn. cxx. cxxi. cxxm. 
cxliv. on Count Algarotti and his Works. When the Count was 
in England, I have heard that he lived much with Lord 
Hervey and Lady Mary W. Montagu. They both wrote 
commendatory verses on his works. 

* Dr. Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester, broke his arm, 
1763, while walking in the garden at Prior Park. See his 
Letter to Dr. Hurd, p. 340, in Hurd and Warburton's Cor- 
respondence; and his Letter to Dr. Stukeley, 6 August, 1763, 
on the consequences of it, by the Bishop, in Nichols's Lit. 
Illust. ii. 56. A pleasing domestic picture of the Bishop and 
his wife may be found in the same volume, p. 839, written 
by Dr. Cuming. 



THE POET GRAY. 303 

might startle one, yet the sale of the tithes 
and chapel to Webster seems to set all right 
again), and I do believe the building in ques- 
tion was the chapel of St. Sepulchre ; but then 
that the ruin now standing was the individual 
chapel, as erected by Archbishop Roger, I can 
by no means think. I found myself merely on 
the style and taste of architecture. The vaults 
under the choir are still in being, and were 
undoubtedly built by this very archbishop. 
They are truly Saxon, only that the arches are 
pointed, though very obtusely. It is the south 
transept (not the north) that is the oldest part 
of the minster now above ground. It is said 
to have been begun by Geoffrey Plantagenet, 
who died about thirty years after Roger, and 
left it unfinished. His successor, Walter Grey, 
completed it; so we do not exactly know to 
which of these two prelates we are to ascribe 
any certain part of it. Grey lived a long time, 
and was archbishop from 1216 to 1255 (39 mo 
Hen. III.) ; and in this reign it was that the 
beauty of the Gothic architecture began to 
appear. The chapter-house is in all probability 
his work, and (I should suppose) built in his 
latter days, whereas what he did of the south 
transept might be performed soon after his 
accession. It is in the second order of this 



304 LETTERS OF 

building that the round arches appear, in- 
cluding a row of pointed ones (which you men- 
tion, and which I also observed), similar to 
those in St. Sepulchre's Chapel, though far 
inferior in the proportions and neatness of 
workmanship. The same thing is repeated in 
the north transept, but this is only an imita- 
tion of the other, done for the sake of regu- 
larity, for this part of the building is no older 
than Archbishop Romaine, who came to the 
see in 1285, and died 1296. 

All the buildings of Henry the Second's 
time (under whom Roger lived, and died, 1181) 
are of a clumsy and heavy proportion, with a 
few rude and awkward ornaments ; and this 
style continues to the beginning of Henry the 
Third's reign, though with a little improve- 
ment, as in the nave of Fountains Abbey, &c. 
Then all at once come in the tall piqued arches, 
the light clustered columns, the capital of curl- 
ing foliage, the fretted tabernacles and vault- 
ings, and a profusion of statues, &c, that con- 
stitute the good Gothic style, together with 
decreasing and flying buttresses and pinnacles 
on the outside. Nor must you conclude any 
thing from Roger's own tomb, which has, I 
remember, a wide surbased arch with scalloned 
ornaments, &c. ; for this can be no older than 



THE POET GRAY. 305 

the nave itself, which was built by Archbishop 
Melton after the year 1315, one hundred and 

thirty years after our Roger's death. 

# * * * * 

Pray come and tell me your mind, though I 

know you will be as weary of me as a dog, 

because I cannot play upon the glasses, nor 

work joiner's work, nor draw my own picture. 

Adieu, I am ever 

Yours. 

Why did not you send me the capital in the 
corner of the choir ? 

I have compared Helvetius* and Elfrida, as 
you desired me, and find thirteen parallel pas- 
sages, five of which at least are so direct and 
close as to leave no shadow of a doubt, and 
therefore confirm all the rest. It is a pheno- 
menon that you will be in the right to inform 

* See in Gray's Works, vol. iii. pp. 306-311, a very long 
note of nearly six pages, by Mason, on the subject of this 
plagiarism by Helvetins ; but Dr. Bennet, the Bishop of Cloyne, 
in a MS. note of his copy of Mason and Gray, which I had, 
writes, " This is a very pettish remark of Mason, especially as 
there seems no doubt that Helvetius was imposed upon." 
The curious part of the matter also is, that in the MS. this 
part of the letter beginning " I have compared Helvetius," 
&c. to the end, is not in Gray's but in Mason's writing, 
added to Gray's letter. 

X 



306 LETTERS OE 

yourself about, and which I long to under- 
stand. Another phenomenon is, that I read it 
without finding it out ; all I remember is that 
I thought it not at all English, and did not 
much like it ; and the reason is plain, for the 
lyric flights and choral flowers suited not in 
the least with the circumstances or character 
of the speaker as he had contrived it. 



LETTER LXXXL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, March 6, 1763. 

I should be glad to know at what time you 
think of returning into the North, because I 
am obliged to be in town the end of this 
month, or the beginning of next, and hope 
somewhere or other to coincide with you, if the 
waters are not too much out. I shall trouble 
you, in case you have any call into the city (or 
if not your servant may do it), to pay the 
insurance of a house for me at the London 
Assurance Office in Birchin Lane. You will 
show them the receipt, which I here inclose. 
Pay twelve shillings, and take another such 
receipt stamped, which must be to 25th March, 
1764. 



THE POET GRAY. 307 

You may remember that I subscribed long 
since to Stuart's book of Attica ; # so long since, 
that I have either lost or mislaid his receipt 
(which I find is the case of many more people). 
Now he doubtless has a list of names, and 
knows this to be true ; if, therefore, he be an 
honest man, he will take two guineas of you, 
and let me have my copy (and you will choose 
a good impression) ; if not, so much the worse 
for him. By way of douceur, you may, if you 
please (provided the subscription is still open 
at its first price), take another for Pembroke 
Hall, and send them down together; but not 
unless he will let me have mine, and so the 
worshipful society authorise me to say. All 
these disbursements the college and I will re- 
pay you with many thanks. 

Where is your just volume, and when will 
you have done correcting it ? Remember me to 
Stonhewer and Dr. Gisborne, and believe me, 

Ever yours, 

T. G. 

* The Antiquities of Athens Measured and Delineated, by 
James Stuart, folio. See Walpole's Mis. Cor. iv. 190, for an 
anecdote of Hogarth's caricature of him as Athenian Stuart. 
A house in St. James's Square, Mrs. Montagu's in Portman 
Square, with a few others, remain as specimens of his archi- 
tecture, and the Chapel of Greenwich Hospital. See life of 
him in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. ix. pp. 146, 147. 

x 2 



308 LETTERS OF 

LETTER LXXXII. 
REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 
DEAR Mr. GRAY, York, June 28th, 17<63. 

Stonhewer tells me that you are returned to 
Cambridge ; therefore I trust you are at leisure 
to read and to answer my letter, and to tell 
me what is to be done about the count and his 
Coserella. One cannot thank him for them, I 
think, till one has read them ; and for my part 
I can only thank him in plain English when- 
ever I do it. Pray write me your mind as to 
this matter. 

You cannot think what a favourite I am of 
Mr. Bedingfield's. I might have had an agate 
and gold snuff-box from him the other day, 
and why think you ? only because I gave him 
an etching of Mr. Gray. "Lord, Sir," says 
I, "would you repay me with a thing of this 
value for a thing not worth three halfpence ?" 
" What," says he, "a portrait of Mr. Gray done 
by Mr. Mason of no value ! " &c. &c. In short 
he pressed me to accept it till there was hardly 
any such thing as refusing ; however, I refused 
to the last, which you will own to be miraculous 
when you consider my avarice, my fondness for 
trinkets, and when I tell you the box was won- 
derfullv handsome, and withal had a French 



THE POET QUAY. 309 

hinge. This said gentleman is shortly going 
to leave York entirely, without having resolved 
in what other place to reside. To say the truth, 
I arn not displeased at this ; for of all the ad- 
mirers I have had in my time, I think he 
would tire me the most was I to have much 
of him. He goes from hence to Norfolk first 
with his family, and that some time this next 
month, and intends you a visit in his way. 
Get your arm-chair new stuffed ; — no, the old 
stuffing will have more inspiration in it. I 
send you on the other page a Sonnet intended 
to prefix to my first volume (Gray willing). 
It has, I assure you, cost me much pains, and 
yet it is not yet what it should he ; however I 
will do no more at it till you have seen it, and 
send me your opinion of it. 

I have got about ten subscribers to Smart, 
and do not know how to transmit him the 
money. Stonhewer advises me to keep it, as 
he hears he is in somebody's hands who may 
cheat him. I have seen his Song to David, # and 

* The Song to David, published in 1763, written during 
the poet's confinement, when he was denied the use of pen, 
ink, and paper, and was obliged to indent his lines with the 
end of a key on the wainscot. See Anderson's Life of Smart, 
p. 122, Only a fragment of this song is given in Anderson's 
edition; but the entire poem, which is there supposed to be 
lost, has since been recovered and printed. 



310 LETTERS OF 

from thence conclude him as mad as ever. But 
this I mention only that one should endeavour 
to assist him as effectually as possible, which 
one cannot do without the mediation of a third 
person. If you know anybody now in London 
(for Stonhewer has left it) whom I can write 
to on this subject, pray tell me. It is said in 
the papers he is prosecuting the people who 
confined him ; if so, assisting him at present is 
only throwing one's money to the lawyers. 
Give my love to Mr. Brown and service to the 
college. 

Yours most sincerely, 

W. Mason. 

SONNET.* 

D'Arcy, to thee, whate'er of happier vein, 

Smit with the love of song my youth essay'd, 
This verse devotes ; from that sequester'd shadef 

Where letter'd ease, thy gift, endears the scene, 

Here as the light-wing'd moments glide serene ; 
I arch J the bower, or, through the tufted glade, § 
In careless now the simple pathway lead, 

And strew with many a rose the shaven green. 

* This Sonnet to the Earl of Holdernesse, the patron of 
Mason, is prefixed to the first volume of Mason's Works, in 
4 vols. 8vo. 

| Aston's secret shade. — Var. 

J Weave.- — Var. 

§ Around the tufted mead. — Var. 



THE POET GRAY. 311 

So, to deceive my solitary days, 

Pleas'd may I toil till life's vain vision end, 

Nor own a wish beyond yon woodbine sprays ; 
Inglorious, not obscure, if D'Arcy lend 

His wonted smile to these selected lays ; 
The Muse's patron, but the Poet's friend.* 



Aston, May, 1763. 



W. M. 



LETTEK LXXXIII. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, 1763. 

As I have no more received my little thing 
than you have yours, though they were sent 
by the Beverley, Captain Allen, I have re- 
turned no answer yet ; but I must soon, 
and that in plain English, and so should you 
too. In the meantime I borrowed and read 
them. That on the Opera is a good clever dis- 
sertation, dedicated to Guglielmo Pitt; the 
other (II Congresso di Citera),f in poetical prose, 

* With rural toils ingenuous arts I blend, 
Secure from envy, negligent of praise, 
Yet not unknown to fame, if D'Arcy "lend 
His wonted smile to dignify my lays. — Var. 
t Algarotti bom 1726, died 1764. He was intimate with 
Voltaire, and Frederic of Prussia conferred on him the title of 
Count. His monument (which I have seen) was erected by 



312 LETTERS OE 

describes the negotiation of three ambassa- 
dresses sent by England, Prance, and Italy to 
the Conrt of Cupid, to lay before him the state 
of his empire in the three nations ; and is not 
contemptible neither in its kind; so pray be 
civil to the count and Signor Howe. 

I think it may be time enough to send poor 
Smart the money you have been so kind to 
collect for him when he has dropped his law- 
suit, which I do not doubt must go against 
him if he pursues it. Gordon (who lives here) 
knows and interests himself about him ; from 
him I shall probably know if he can be per- 
suaded to drop his design. There is a Mr. 
Anguish in town (with whom I fancy you were 
once acquainted) ; he probably can best inform 
you of his condition and motions, for I hear 
he continues to be very friendly to him. 

this King in the Campo Santo at Pisa, with the inscription 
" Algarotto, Ovidii semulo, Newtoni discipulo, Fredericus 
Magnus." His works were published at Venice in 17 vols. 
8vo, 1791-1794. Mrs. Carter translated his Newtoniasmo. 
II Congresso has been translated into French, with others of 
his works. Tessaldo, in his Biographia, has given a list of 
the writers who have treated of the life of Algarotti, vol. vi. 
p. 175. It is said that he contributed to reform and improve 
the Italian Opera. Gray writes to Mr. Hurd, " The Congress 
of Cithera I had seen and liked before ; the Giudicio d'Amore 
is an addition rather inferior to it." See Works, iv. p. 100. 



THE POET GRAY. 313 

When you speak of Mr. Bedingfield, you 
have always a dash of gall that shows your unfor- 
giving temper, only because it was to my great 
chair he made the first visit. For this cause 
you refused the snuff-box (which to punish you 
I shall accept myself), and for this cause you 
obstinately adhere to the Church of England. 

Hike your Sonnet * better than most dedica- 
tions ; it is simple and natural. The best line 
in it is : — 

" So, to deceive my solitary days," &c. 

There are an expression or two that break the 
repose of it by looking common and overworn : 
" sequestered shade," " woodbine sprays," 
" selected lays ;" I dare not mention " lettered 
ease." "Life's vain vision" does not pro- 
nounce well. Bating these, it looks in earnest, 
and as if you could live at Aston, which is not 
true ; but that is not my affair. 

I have got a mass of Pergolesi,t which is all 

* See for this Sonnet Letter lxxxii. 

\ It was Mr. Walpole's opinion that Gray first brought the 
compositions of Pergolesi into England, though he does not 
mention Pergolesi in his Letters. Mason and Walpole had 
heard from him that he regarded the vocal compositions of 
this master as models of perfection ; but the Salve Regina was 
performed in England at the Haymarket, in 1740, so that it 
could not have been brought into this country by Gray, who 
did not arrive in England from Italy till the August of the 



314 LETTERS OF 

divinity ; but it was lent me, or you should have 
it by all means. Send for six lessons for the 
pianoforte or harpsichord of Carlo Each, not 
the Opera Bach, but his brother. To my fancy 
they are charming, and in the best Italian 
style. Mr. Neville and the old musicians here 
do not like them, but to me they speak not 
only music, but passion. I cannot play them, 
though they are not hard ; yet I make a smat- 
tering that serves " to deceive my solitary days;" 
and I figure to myself that I hear you touch 
them triumphantly. Adieu ! I should like to 
hear from you. 

The Petit Bon* sends his love to you. All 

same year. — Burney's Hist, of Music, iv. 535. " In Mr. Gray's 
interesting library I found several volumes (six?) of MS. music, 
which Mr. Gray had selected when in Italy. At that time 
very little music was printed in Italy, and none but the best 
was made an article of traffic. I turned them over without 
finding anything of value that had not since been printed. 
The Dutch, without having the least pretension to musical 
knowledge, printed many of the first authors, and as an 
article of trade sold the Italian compositions all over Europe." 
See Gardiner on Music and Friends, ii. 722. 

* The affectionate and friendly title given by Gray to his 
friend Dr. James Brown, Fellow and subsequently Master of 
Pembroke Hall, having succeeded Dr. Long in 1770, and 
retained the headship till 1784. He was appointed joint 
executor with Mason to Gray's will, and he accompanied 
Gray's remains to his grave in the churchyard of Stoke. See 



THE POET GRAY. 315 

the rest (but Dr. May* and the master) are dead 
or married. 



LETTER LXXXIV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR Mr. MASON, Cambridge, Thursday, 1764. 

As you are alone and not quite well, I do 
feel a little sort of (I am almost ashamed to 
speak it) tenderness for you, but then I com- 
fort myself with the thought that it does not 
proceed from any remnant of old inclination or 
kindness that I have for you. That, you must 
allow, would be folly, as our places of abode 
are so distant, and our occupations and pur- 
suits so different. But the true cause is, that 
I am pretty lonely too, and besides have a com- 
plaint in my eyes that possibly may end in 
blindness. It consists in not being able to 
read at all with one eye, and having very often 

on Mm Chatham Correspondence, iv. p. 311 ; Walpole's Misc. 
Corresp. v. p. 118; vi. 94. 

* Samuel May, elected a Fellow of Pembroke 1740, died 
in 1787. Mentioned by Gray in his Letters (see Works, 
vol. iii. pp. 24, 149), but not in a very flattering manner. 



316 



LETTERS OF 



the muscce volit antes before the other. I may 
be allowed therefore to think a little of you and 
Delaval, without any disparagement to my 
knowledge of mankind and of human nature. 

The match you talk of is no more consum- 
mated than your own, and Kitty* is still a 
maid for the Doctor, so that he wants the 
requisite thing, and yet, I'll be sworn, his hap- 
piness is yery little impaired. I take broiled 
salmon to be a dish much more necessary at 
your table than his. I had heard in town (as 
you have) that they were married ; and 
longed to go to Spilsby and make them a visit ; 
but here I learn it is not true yet, whatever it 
may be. I read and liked the Epigram t as it 

* Kitty Hunter and Di\ Delap. See a letter from Eight 
Hon. T. Townshend to G. Selwyn. " Another important 
event is the marriage of Miss Hunter to a Dr. Delap, with 
whose sister she boarded. It is said that her father has added 
two hundred a year to her other settlement'" Nov. 11, 1764. 
See Selwyn Correspondence, vol. i. p. 319; and Letter lxxvi. 
of this Correspondence. Her other settlement was that made on 
her by the Earl of Pembroke. See Walpole's Misc Letters, 
vol. iv. p. 256. So ends the history of the Eev. Dr. Delap. 

f I possess several of Mason's political and personal epi- 
grams, which Walpole used to insert for him in the " Evening 
Post ;" but do not recognise the one here alluded to. Those 
against the king are written in the bitterest feeling of personal 
animosity. See one of Mason's squibs alluded to, in Eockingham 
Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 312; and see Letter xcvi. of this selection. 



THE POET QUAY. 317 

was printed, and do insist it is better without 
the last lines, not that the thought is amiss, 
but because the same rhyme is repeated, and 
the sting is not in the epigrammatic style ; I 
mean, not easy and familiar. In a satire it 
might do very well. Mr. Churchill is dead in- 
deed, * drowned in a butt of claret, which was 
tapped on the meeting of the Friends at 
Boulogne. He made an excellent end, as his 
executor Humphrey Cotes f testifies. I did not 

* See on his death Walpole's Letters to Mason, i. p. 207 ; 
Memoirs of George III., vol. i. p. 181, ii. p. 35 ; The Gren^ 
ville Papers, vol. ii. p. 459, in a letter from Mr. Almon to Earl 
Temple. " Although . (he writes) Churchill was very much 
out of humour with the Minority, and intended very soon to 
have attacked them upon their moderation, in a poem to have 
been called Moderatus, inscribed to Mr. Pitt, yet his death 
will be felt as a real loss, for the public admired his writings ; 
and, whatever he might have said of the Minority, he would 
certainly have said much worse of the Ministry." 

•f A friend of Churchill (brother of Admiral Cotes) and a 
wine-merchant and political character. He is mentioned in 
Churchill's Poem, "Independence:" — 

" Hail, Independence !— never may my lot 
Till I forget thee, be by thee forgot. 
Thither, oh thither! oftentimes repair, 
Cotes, whom thou lovest too, shall meet thee there." 

Churchill and Humphrey Cotes had gone to Boulogne on a 
visit to Wilkes. Churchill was suddenly attacked with a fever, 
and died. See a letter from Wilkes to Earl Temple, Nov. 1, 



318 LETTERS OF 

write any of the elegies, being busy in writing 
the Temple of Tragedy. Send for it forthwith, 
for you are highly interested in it. If I had 
not owned the thing, perhaps you might have 
gone and taken it for the Reverend Mr. Lang- 
horne's. It is divine. I have not read the 
Philosophic Dictionary. I can stay with 
great patience for anything that comes from 
Voltaire. They tell me it is frippery, and 
blasphemy, and wit. I could have forgiven 
myself if I had not read Rousseau's Letters. 
Always excepting the Contract Social, it is the 
dullest performance he ever published. It is a 
weak attempt to separate the miracles from the 
morality of the Gospel. The latter he would 
have you think he believes was sent from 
God, and the former he very explicitly takes 
for an imposture. This is in order to prove 
the cruelty and injustice of the State of 
Geneva in burning his Emile. # The latter part 
of his book is to shew the abuses that have 

1764, written while his two friends were staying with him. 
See Grenville Papers, ii. p. 454. 

* " Gray thought the Emile a work of great genius, though 
mixed with much absurdity ; and that it might be productive 
of good, if read with judgment, but impracticable and ridicu- 
lous as a system of education. To adopt it as such, he said, 
" you must begin a new world. 1 ' See Works, v. 46. 



THE POET GRAY. 319 

crept into the constitution of his country, 
which point (if you are concerned about it) he 
makes out very well, and his intention in this 
is plainly to raise a tumult in the city, and to 
be revenged on the Petit Conseil, who con- 
demned his writings to the flames. 

Cambridge itself is fruitful enough of 
events to furnish out many paragraphs in my 
Gazette. The most important is, that Prog 
Walker* is dead ; his last words were (as the 
nurses sat by him and said, " Ah ! poor 
gentleman, he is going ! ") ; " Going, going ! 
where am I going ? I'm sure I know no more 

* This is Doctor Richard Walker, Fellow and Vice-Master 
of Trinity College and Professor of Moral Theology from 1744 
to 1764; founder of the Botanic Gardens at Cambridge, He 
is also the person quoted by Pope in the Dunciad (Book iv. 
273) as the obsequious attendant on Bentley, " Walker, my 
hat!" There is an engraving of him by Lainbourne very like 
him. See some account of him in Cumberland's Memoirs, p. 73, 
4to. and Bishop Monk's Life of Bentley, vol. ii. pp. 26, 349, 
&c. He was called Frog Walker from his having served a 
curacy in the fen-country at Upwell, and so peculiarly dis- 
tinguished from others of his contemporaries of the same name, 
" a nickname" says Bishop Monk, " by which he is still desig- 
nated.' 1 ' 1 The same biographer observes, " His goodly disposi- 
tion, his liberality and public spirit, and his almost chivalrous 
devotion to the fortunes of his master (Bentley), have pro r 
cured him a celebrity in the University annals, to which his 
talents and acquirements do not seem to have entitled him." 



320 LETTERS OF 

than the man in the moon." Doctor Ridling- 
ton # has been given over with a dropsy these 
ten weeks. He refused all tapping and scari- 
fying, but obeyed other directions, till, finding 
all was over, he prescribed to himself a boiled 
chicken entire, and five quarts of small beer. 
After this he brought up great quantities of 
blood, the swelling and suffocation, and all 
signs of water disappeared, his spirits returned, 
and, except extreme weakness, he is recovered. 
Every body has ceased to inquire after him, 
and, as he would not die when he should, they 
are resolved to proceed as if he were dead and 
buried. Dr. Newcomef is dead. For six weeks 
or more before his death he was distracted, not 
childish, but really raving. Eor the last three 
weeks he took no nourishment but by force. 
Miss Kirke and the younger BeadonJ are exe- 
cutors and residuary legatees. I believe, he 

* Professor of Civil Law. See Letter xcn. 

■f Dean of Rochester, elected Margaret Professor of Divinity 
in 1727, Master of St. John's in 1735, and was succeeded by 
Zachary Brooke as Margaret Professor, and as Master of St. 
John's by Dr. Powell. See account of him in Nichols's Li- 
terary Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 558, and viii. p. 379. He died 
10th January, 1765, set. 82. Buried in the Chapel of St. 
John's College. 

J Richard Beadon, Fellow of St. John's, afterwards Public 
Orator, Master of Jesus, and Bishop of Gloucester and Bath. 



THE POET GRAY. 321 

left about 10,000/., but there are many lega- 
cies. Had I a pen of adamant, I could not de- 
scribe the business, the agitation, the tempest, 
the University is in about the Margaret Pro- 
fessorship.* Only D.D.'s and B.D.'s have votes, 
so that there are acts upon acts. The bell is 
eternally tolling, as in time of pestilence, and no- 
body knows whose turn it may be next. The 
candidates are Dr. Law and Z. Brooke and my 
Lord Sandwich. The day is Saturday next. 
But alas ! what is this to the warm region of 
Saint John's ? It is like Lisbon on the day of 
the earthquake ; it is like the fire of London. 
I can hear and smell it hither. Here too ap- 
pears the furious Zachary; but his forces are 
but three or four men. Here towers Doctor 
Butherforth,t himself an host, and he has about 
three champions. There Skinner, J with his 
powerful oratory, and the decent Mr. Alvis,§ 

* In 1765 Zachary Brooke, of St. John's, was elected 
Margaret Professor, vacated by Dr. John Newcome's death. 
He was also Dean of Eochester, and was succeeded in 1788 
by J, Mainwaring, D.D. 

■f Dr. Rutherford, Fellow of St. John's and Kegius Professor 
of Divinity. 

% John Skynner, Fellow of St. John's, Sub-Dean of York, 
and Public Orator from 1752 to 1762. He died May 25, 
1805, aged 81. See Nichols's Anecdotes, ix. p. 487. 

§ Andrew Alvis, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridgej 
Y 



322 LETTERS OF 

with their several invisible squadrons : Ogden 
and Gunning * each fighting for himself, and 
disdaining the assistance of others. But see, 
where Frampton,t with his 17 votes, and on his 
buckler glitters the formidable name of Sand- 
wich, at which fiends tremble. Last of all 
comes, with his mines and countermines, and 
old Newcastle at his back, the irresistible force 
of Powell. J 23 are a majority, and he has al- 
ready 22-J. If it lapses to the Seniors he has 
it; if it lapses to the Visitor he has it. In 
short, as we all believe, he has it every way. 
I know you are overjoyed, especially for that 
he has the Newcastle interest. I have had a 

M.A. 1738. Rector of Great Snoring, Norfolk, 1763 or 1764. 
Died May 25, 1775. See a Letter from him to Mr. Gough in 
Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, ix. p. 362. 

* Probably Stuart Gunning, Fellow of St. John's College 
in 1745, whose successor, Thomas Doyly, was elected in 
March 1766. 

■f Thomas Frampton, Fellow of St. John's College, A.M. 
1751, B.D. 1759. 

J William Samuel Powell elected Master of St. John's 
College in 1764, which he held till 1775. His sermons have 
received the highest praise from the highest authorities. See 
Hey's Lectures on Divinity, vol. i. pp. 77, 91 ; ii. p 263, and 
the Index to the 4th volume, art. " Powell." See also Bishop 
Maltby's Illustrations of the Christian Religion, p. 261. He 
died January 19, 1775, aged 58. Cole has given a long 
account of him in Nichols's Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 564-584. 



THE POET GRAY. 323 

very civil visit of two hours from Archimage, 
busy as he is ; for you know I inherit all 
your old acquaintance, as I do all Delaval's old 
distempers. I visited Dr. Balguy the other day 
at Winchester, and he me at Southampton. 
We are as great as two peas. The day of 
election at Saint John's is Friday sennight. 

Mr. Brown is well, and has forgot you. Mr. 
Mcholls* is profuse of his thanks to me for your 
civilities to him at York, of which, God knows, I 
knew no more than the man in the moon. Adieu. 



LETTER LXXXV. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, Southampton, Oct. 13, 1764. 

Since I have been here, I have received from 
you, and by your means, five letters. That 
from Pa. I could wish you had opened, as I 
know you, by your good will, would have done. 

* The Rev. Norton Nicholls, of Blundeston, Suffolk. Mr. 
Mathias's friendly and elegant memoir of him is well-known, 
and is reprinted in Gray and Nicholls's Correspondence, ed. 
Aid. p. 3 to 28. See also on him Walpole's Letter to Mann, 
ii. pp. 210, 224. He is occasionally mentioned in the Corres- 
pondence between Walpole and Mason; and my revered 
friend Mr. Samuel Rogers informs me that he was well 
acquainted with him. 

Y 2 



324 LETTERS OF 

The sum of it is, that he is at Geneva, with 
the Rhone tumbling its blue and green tide 
directly under his window. That he has 
passed a fortnight in the Pays de Yaud, and 
the Cantons of Berne, Pribourg, and Soleure, 
and returned by the lake of Neufchatel. That 
the whole country, and particularly the last- 
named, appeared to him astonishingly beauti- 
ful. He inquired much after Rousseau, but 
did not meet with him ; his residence is at 
Moitier au Travers, about four leagues from 
Neufchatel, where he lives in great plenty, the 
booksellers at the Hague being his bank, and 
ready to answer any sum he draws for. It is 
amazing what he got by his last two books. 
He is often flying about from village to village ; 
generally wears a sort of Armenian dress, and 
passed for a kind of misanthrope, but is held 
in great veneration by the people. 

He says, he saw all the matters that come in 
course in Prance, and was greatly disappointed. 
The only thing he mentions is the church at 
Amiens, which was really fine. They set out 
in a few days (his date is 19th Sept.,) and go 
by Chambery to Turin, from whence he will 
write to you. His letter, he says, is not worth 
the postage ; but it is the abundance and not 
the want of matter that makes it so poor. 



THE POET GRAY. 32 

After this what shall I say to you of my Lil- 
liputian travels ? On Monday I think to see 
Salisbury, and to he sure Wilton, and Ames- 
bury, and Stonehenge. This will take up three 
days, and then I come back hither, and think to 
be in London on Saturday or Monday after, for 
the weather grows untoward, and the sea (that 
is, the little miniature of it, Southampton 
Biver) rages horribly, and looks as if it would 
eat one, else I should have gone to Lyming- 
ton and Christ church, and called upon Mr. 
Mansfield in the New Forest, to see the bow 
that killed William Rufus, which he pretends 
to possess. Say not a word of Andover. My 
Lord Delawar has erected a little monument 
over the spot where, according to ancient tra- 
dition, that king was slain, and another in 
God's House Chapel, where the Earl of Cam- 
bridge, Lord Scroop, and Sir Thomas Grey, 
were interred by Henry V. after he had cut 
off their heads. It is in this town, and now 
the French Church. Here lives Dr. Saint 
Andre,* famous for the affair of the Habbit- 

* Nathaniel St. Andre, surgeon. See Musgrave's Me- 
moirs, Gent. Mag. vol. li. p. 320, and Noble's Continuation 
of Granger, vol. iii. p. 477 ; and Biog. Anecdotes of Hogarth by 
Nichols. When Samuel Molyneux, Esq., Secretary to George 
Prince of Wales, died, St. Andre immediately married his 



326 LETTERS OF 

"Woman, and for marrying Lady Betty Moly- 
neux after they had disposed of her first hus- 
band. She died not long since in the odour of 
sanctity. He is 80 years old, and is now 
building a palazzino here hard by, in a delight- 
ful spot called Bellevue, and has lately pro- 
duced a natural son to inherit it. What do 
you say to poor Iwan,* and the last Buss mani- 
festo ? Will nobody kill me that dragoness ? 
Must we wait till her son does it himself ? 

Mr. Stonhewer has been at Glamis. He tells 
me no news. He only confutes a piece of news 
I sent him, which I am glad to hear is a lie. 
I must tell you a small anecdote I just hear, 
that delights me. Sir E. Norton f has a mother 

widow, Elizabeth, daughter of Algernon Capel, Earl of Essex. 
St Andre was one of the dupes of* Mary Tofts, who asserted 
she was delivered of seventeen rabbits in 1726. Sir Thomas 
Clarges detected the fraud. Whiston wrote a paper on this 
rabbit conception, as the fulfilment of a prophecy in Esdras. 
St. Andre died in March 1776, aged 96. 

* SeeBelsham's History, vol. v. p. 127. Walpole's George 
III. i. p. 185; ii. p, 34. Lord Chesterfield's Letters, vol. iv. 
p. 248. See Walpole's Misc. Letters, vol. iv. p. 443. " The 
murder of the young Czar Iwan has stirred, again all my 
abhorrence of the Czarina. What a devil in a diadem !" &c. 

•j* Sir Fletcher Norton, Attorney- General, afterwards Speaker 
of the House of Commons, and in 1792 Lord Grantley. His 
father was Thomas Norton, of Grantley, near Ripon, who died 
1719; and his mother was Elizabeth, daughter of William 



THE POET GRAY. 327 

living at a town in Yorkshire, in a very indif- 
ferent lodging. A good house was to be sold 
there the other day. He thought in decency 
he ought to appear willing to buy it for her. 
When the people to whom it belongs imagined 
that everything was agreed on, he insisted on 
having two pictures as fixtures, which they 
value at 601., so Mrs. Norton lives where she did. 
I am sorry for the Duke of Devonshire.* 
The cause, I fear, is losing ground, and I know 
the person (where Mr. T.f has lately been) 
looked upon all as gone, if this event should 
happen. Adieu. When I get to town I shall 
pick up something to tell you. 

I am ever yours. 

I know r nothing of Mason, but that he is well. 
Southampton, at Mr. Vining's, plumber, in 
High Street. 

Sergeantson, of Hanleth, in Craven. Died 1774; buried in 
Ripon Minster. 

* William fourth Duke of Devonshire, died October 2nd, 
1764, aged 44, at the German Spa; buried at Allhallows, 
Derby. Lord Temple wrote to Mr. Mitchell at Berlin in 
October, 1764. "Vous connoissez assez et vous sentirez de 
nieme tout le malheur de la perte que nous venous d'essayer 
dans la mort du Due de Devonshire." See Grenville Papers, 
vol. ii. p. 452; and Eockingham Memoirs, vol. i. p. 134. 

f Probably Mr. Talbot , Fellow of Pembroke. 



328 LETTERS OF 

LETTER LXXXVI. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, Monday, 1764. ? 

I received your letter before I left London, 
and sit down to write to you, after the finest 
walk in the finest day that ever shone to Netley 
Abbey* — my old friend, with whom I longed to 
renew my acquaintance. My ferryman (for one 
passes over a little arm of the sea about half a 
mile) assured me he would not go near it in 
the night time for all the world, though he 
knew much money had been found there. The 
sun was " all too glaring and too full of gauds" 
for such a scene, which ought to be visited 
only in the dusk of the evening. It stands 
in a little quiet valley, which gradually rises 
behind the ruins into a half-circle crowned 
with thick wood. Before it, on a descent, is 
a thicket of oaks, that serves to veil it from 
the broad day and from profane eyes, only 
leaving a peep on both sides, where the sea 
appears glittering through the shade, and ves- 
sels, with their white sails, that glide across 
and are lost again. Concealed behind the 

* Compare Gilpin's description of Netley Abbey, in his 
Tour in the Western Parts of England, p. 347. 



THE POET GRAY. 329 

thicket stands a little castle (also in ruins), 
immediately on the shore, that commands a 
view over an expanse of sea clear and smooth 
as glass (when I saw it), with Southampton 
and several villages three miles off to the right, 
Calshot Castle at seven miles' distance, and the 
high lands of the Isle of Wight to the left, and 
in front the deep shades of the New Forest 
distinctly seen, because the water is no more 
than three miles over. 

The abbey was never very large. The shell 
of its church is almost entire, but the pillars of 
the aisles are gone, and the roof has tumbled 
in ; yet some little of it is left in the transept, 
where the ivy has forced its way through, and 
hangs flaunting down among the fretted orna- 
ments and escutcheons of the benefactors. 
Much of the lodgings and offices are also 
standing, but all is overgrown with trees and 
bushes, and mantled here and there with ivy, 
that mounts over the battlements. 

In my way I saw Winchester Cathedral 
again with pleasure, and supped with Dr. 
Balguy, who, I perceive, means to govern the 
chapter. They give 2001. a-year to the poor 
of the city. His present scheme is to take 
away this, for it is only an encouragement to 
laziness. But what do they mean to do with 



330 LETTERS or 

it ? That, indeed, I omitted to inquire, because 
I thought I knew. I saw St. Cross, too, the 
almshouse of Noble Poverty (so it was called), 
founded by Henry de Blois and Cardinal Beau- 
fort. It maintains nine decayed footmen, and 
a master (Chancellor Hoadly), who has 800/. 
a-year out of it. 

This place is still full of bathers. I know 
not a soul, nor have once been at the rooms. 
The walks all round it are delicious, and so 
is the weather. Lodgings very dear, and fish 
very cheap. Here is no coffee-house, no book- 
seller, no pastrycook ; but here is the Duke of 
Chandos. # I defer my politics. My service to 
Mr. Talbot, Gould, t &c, and to Mr. Howe, if 
with you. Adieu. 

* Henry Brydges, second Duke of Chandos, succeeded 
1744; died 1771. 

f Mr. Theodore Vine Gould, Fellow of New Hall, A.M. 
1760. Mr. Thomas Talbot, of Queen's College, A.M. 1764. 
William Taylor Howe, of Pembroke College, A.B. 1760. 



THE POET GRAY. 331 

LETTER LXXXVIL 
TO THE REY. JAMES BROWN. 

Jermyn Street, 
DEAR SlR, Thursday, October 25, 1764. 

I am returned from Southampton, since 
Monday last ; haye been at Salisbury, Wilton, 
Stonehenge, and where not, and am not at all 
the worse for my expedition. Delly* has been 
here, and talks of going to Cambridge on 
Wednesday, if you want him ; but, if you do 
not, would be glad to be prevented by a letter. 
His intention is only to stay there a day or 
two. He asked rne for my rooms, but as I had 
(intentionally) promised them to Mr. Mapletoft, 
I answered as if I had actually been engaged 
on that head, and had already wrote to you to 
say so. If Mr. Mapletoft t does not come, they 
are at Mr. Delly's service. 

The present news is that Lady Harriet Went- 
worthj (Lord Rockingham's sister), not a young 
or a beautiful maiden, has married her servant, 
an Irish footman. 

Mr. Mason, who has been in Yorkshire, has 
seen the future bride. She has just such a 

* Delaval, Fellow of Pembroke, mentioned before, 
t John Mapletoft, of Pembroke College, A.M. 1764. 
J See p. 335. 



332 LETTERS OF 

nose as Mason has himself; so you see it was 
made in heaven. 

The rent-roll of the present Duke of Devon- 
shire's estate is 44,000Z. a-year. Lord Bichard 
has better than 4,000/. a-year; Lady Dorothy 
30,000Z.; a legacy of 500/. to General Conway ;* 
500/. apiece to the three brothers, and they are 
appointed guardians, and, I think, executors — 
business enough, in conscience. To-day I hear 
the Cambridge affair is compromised, and Lord 
Hardwicke to come in quietly, f This I should 

* Honourable Seymour Conway, only brother of the Earl 
of Hertford, Groom of the Bedchamber, dismissed 1764 
(April) from Court, and his regiment taken away, on account 
of his opposition to Government on the question of General 
Warrants. He was considered an upright and respectable 
Minister, but had few opportunities of evincing military 
talent. Field-Marshal 1793 ; died 1795. He had been 
employed in the unsuccessful expedition against Eochfort. A 
comedy, said to have been written by him, called " False 
Appearances," afterwards taking the title of " Fashionable 
Friends," found among Lord Orford's Papers, was acted at 
Strawberry Hill. He is now best known through his inti- 
macy with Horace Walpole. 

| See Walpole's Miscellaneous Letters, vol. iv. pp. 325, 
385, and 401, and Churchill's Candidate, p. 30. 

Are there not proctors faithful to thy will, 
One of full growth, others in embryo still, 
Who may, perhaps, in some ten years or more, 
Be ascertained that two and two make four ? &c. 



THE POET GRAY. 333 

not give credit to had I not heard it before I 
came from thence. The Duke of Cumberland, 
they say, is in a very good way : it is strange 
to me if he recovers. 

I will write soon again, and try to tell you 
more, for I shall stay in town about a fortnight 
longer. You will oblige me if you will send to 
inquire how Dolly Antrobus does. Adieu. 

I am ever yours, 



On which I find the following MS. note in Gray's copy of 
Churchill : " When Lord Sandwich stood for the High Steward- 
ship of Cambridge, the proctors could not agree whether he or 
the Earl of Hardwiche had the majority of voices." See Gray's 
Letters, vol. iv. p. 47, to Dr. Wharton. "Your mother, the 
University, has succeeded in her great cause against the party 
of State ; Lord Hardwiche is declared duly elected, by a majo- 
rity of one voice," &c. And see Dr. King's Anecdotes of his 
own Time, p. 161, and Mr. Grenville's Diary, vol. ii. p. 236, 
Grenville Papers. " The King wished Lord Sandwich to give 
up the pursuit, dislikes his activity, and does not approve of 
the factions of great lords making parties for themselves. See 
p. 494. Mr. Nicholls tells us, that in the contest for the High 
Stewardship at Cambridge, between Lord Hardwicke and Lord 
Sandwich, Mr. Gray took a warm and eager part, for no other 
reason, I believe, than because he thought the licentious cha- 
racter of the latter candidate rendered him improper for a 
post of such dignity in the University. See Gray's Works, 
ed. Aid. vol. v. p. 37. 



334 LETTERS OF 

LETTER LXXXVIII. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SIR, Monday, Oct. 29, 1764. 

I was not able to answer your letter on 
Saturday, but Delly* will certainly be with you 
on Wednesday, good man. 

The Duke of Devonshire f for the last fortnight 
of his life was in a state of infancy. On opening 
his head there were found two fleshy substances 
that pressed upon the brain — the source of his 
malady. He leaves Devonshire House, with 
the pictures, furniture, &c, to Lord Richard, 
his second son, which the present duke may 
redeem by paying down 20,000/. ; in short, to 
Lord Richard and Lord George (for there are 

* Delaval. 

j- On the Duke of Devonshire's death, Oct. 2, 1764, aged 44, 
at Spa, see the Grenville Papers, ii. pp. 22, 441. Walpole's 
Misc. Letters, iv. 238, 435. Selwyn Correspondence, i. pp. 286, 
291. Walpole's History of George III. vol. i. pp. 71, 202; 
vol. ii. pp. 20, 100, 111. Rockingham Papers, i. 137. Bel- 
sham's History, iv. p. 305. This nobleman was much lamented. 
He was the son of him who was called " the good old Duke 
of Devonshire," who died in 1755. See his character in 
Collins's Peerage, i. 357. Lord Mahon's Hist. vol. v. p. 89, for 
his character. On his resignation Oct. 28, in 1762, see Lord 
Mahon's Hist. v. App. iii. from the Grafton MSS. 



THE POET GRAY. 335 

two) he gives about 4,000Z. a-year apiece ; the 
rest I think I told you before. The majority 
do not exult upon this death ; they are modest 
and humble, being all together by the ears ; so, 
indeed are the minority too. I hear nothing 
about the Cambridge affair, and you do not tell 
me whether my last news was true ; I conclude 
not, for I am told the Yorkes are very fully and 
explicitly against the present measures — even 
their chief himself. 

The present talk runs on Lady Harriet Went- 
worth* (that is her name since she married her 
Irish footman). Your friend the Marquis of 
Rockingham's sister is a sensible, well-educated 
woman; twenty-seven years old, indeed, and 
homely enough. O'Brien and his ladyf (big 
with child) are embarked for America, to culti- 
vate their 40,000 acres of woodland. Before 

* Lord Rockingham's sister, Lady Henrietta Olivia Went- 
worth, married Mr. William Sturgeon. She was born 1737. 
See Walpole's Misc. Letters, iv. p. 460, and Selwyn Corre- 
spondence, vol. i. p. 312-315. 

■f " O'Brien and Lady Susan are to be transported to the 
Ohio and have a grant of 40,000 acres. The Duchess of 
Grafton says 60,000 was bestowed; but a friend of yours and 
a relation of Lady Susan nibbled away 20,000 from the captain." 
Walpole to Lord Hertford, iv. 404 and 440, and Lord Holland 
to Mr. Grenville, Oct. 14, 1764, on the same subject. See 
Grenville Papers, ii. p. 447. 



336 LETTERS OF 

they went, her uncle made him enter himself at 

Lincoln's Inn ; I suppose to give him the idea 

of returning home again. # 

I hope not to stay here above a fortnight, 

but in the meantime should be glad if you 

would inform me what is the sum total of my 

bill. Adieu. 

I am ever yours, 



As I have room, I shall tell you that, on the 
news of the Duke of Cumberland's illness at 

* Lady Susan Fox, Lord Ilchester's daughter, married 
O'Brien, the actor. Lord Holland, in a letter to Mr. Gren- 
ville, says, " Mr. O'Brien is gone with her to New York, and 
the keeping him there in credit is all that can be done, whilst 
we, if possible, forget them here." He then asks for a place 
of Comptroller of the Customs for him at New York, and 
says, " The King has shown much compassion on this un- 
fortunate o<jpasion." See Grenville Papers, vol. ii. 447. See 
also a letter from H. Walpole to Lord Hertford, in Misc. Corr. 
iv. p. 404, and Letters to Mann, i. p. 195. "A melancholy 
affair has happened to Lord Ilchester. His eldest daughter, 
Lady Susan, a very pleasing girl, though not handsome, 
married herself two days ago, at Covent Garden Church, to 
O'Brien, a handsome young actor t Lord Ilchester doted on 
her, and was the most indulgent of fathers. It was a cruel 
blow." See also J. Taylor's Eecords of his own Life, vol. i. 
p. 176, for some interesting account of the character and 
talents of Mr. O'Brien ; and see Selwyn Correspondence, 
vol. i. 273. 



THE POET GRAY. 337 

Newmarket, Lord S. coming out of the closet 
met a great butcherly lord with a white staff, * 
and, with a countenance very decent and com- 
posed to sorrow, told him they had extreme bad 
news ; that his Royal Highness the Duke was so 
ill it was doubtful whether he could live till 
next day.f The other replied, " Bad news, do 
you call it ? By God, I am very glad of it, and 
shall be to hear the same of all that do not love 
the King." 

My service to Mr. T.J I am glad to hear he 
is well. 



LETTER LXXXIX. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAPl MASON, Jermyn Street, May 23, [1765 ?] 

In my way into the remote parts of the north, 
I mean to make you a visit at York ; probably 
you will see me there on Wednesday next in 
the evening. It is your business to consider 
whether you have a house and a tea for me, for 
I shall stay there a week perhaps, if you con- 

* Lord Talbot, Lord Steward. Lord S. is probably Lord 
Sandwich, the Secretary of State. 

f He died in Upper Grosvenor Street, 31st October, 1765. 
% Mr. Talbot, 

Z 



338 LETTERS OF 

tinue agreeable so long. I have been in town 
this month, every day teeming with prodigies. 
I suppose you receive expresses every three 
hours, and therefore I pass over the Regency 
Bill, the weavers' petition, the siege of Bedford 
House,* the riot on Ludgate Hill, the royal 
embassy to Hayes, t the carte blanche refused 

* For an account of these riots in 1765 see Cavendish 
Debates, pp. 147, 310, and Notes of the Editor; Walpole's 
Memoir of George the Third, vol. ii. p. 155 ; Walpole's Mis- 
cellaneous Letters, vol. v. p. 35. See also the Rockingham 
Memoirs, vol. i. p. 207. " Bedford House was completely- 
besieged by the rioters, who could only be repelled by a body 
of cavalry. The cause of the Duke of Bedford's being the 
principal object of the attack of the rioters, was owing to his 
being foremost in opposing the altering the duties on Italian 
silks, so as to obtain a total prohibition of them. The silk 
manufacture at that time in Spitalfields was at a low ebb, and 
it required near another century before the advantage of free- 
dom of trade was understood and adopted." 

"]" On this embassy to Lord Chatham, at his seat at Hayes, 
near Bromley, see Walpole's History of George the Third, 
vol. i. p. 288; Belshani's History, vol. v. p. 94; Adolphus's 
History, vol. i. p. 127; Lord Mahon's History, vol. v. pp. 55- 
59. See also Lord Hardwicke's Letter to Lord Royston, in 
his Life by Harris^ vol. iii. p. 375-380. The grounds of this 
favourite seat of Lord Chatham, which he sold to a Mr. Wal- 
pole on his coming into possession of Burton Pynsent, and 
then anxiously repurchased, were laid out by him ; the little 
lake and the Palladian bridge still remain. In this house he 
died, and in this house his second son, William Pitt, was 
born. Visited by me July, 1851. 



THE POET GRAY. 339 

with disdain, the subversion of the ministry, 
which fights to the last gasp, and afterwards 
like the man che combattea e era morto, and 
yet stands upon its legs and spits in its master's 
face to this day because nobody will deign to 
take its place ; the House of Commons stand- 
ing at gaze with its hands before it ; the House 
of Lords bullying the justices of peace and 

fining the printers ;* the king , &c. &c. 

The rest is left to oral tradition. Adieu ! 



LETTER XC. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

July 16, 1765. 

Willtam Shakespeare to Mrs. Anne, Regular Servant to the 
Rev. Mr. Precentor, of York. 

A moment's patience, gentle Mistris Anne: 
(But stint your clack for sweet St. Charitie) 

'Tis Willey begs, once a right proper man, 
Though now a book, and interleav'd you see. 

Much have I borne from canker'd critic's spite, 
From fumbling baronets, and poets small, 

Pert barristers, and parsons nothing bright : 

* This alludes to the proceedings in the case of Wilkes. 
Almon was Wilkes's printer. 

z2 



340 LETTERS or 

But what awaits me now is worst of all. 
'Tis true, our master's temper natural 

Was fashion'd fair in meek and dove-like guise ; 
But may not honey's self be turn'd to gall 

By residence, by marriage, and sore eyes ? 
If then he wreak on me his wicked will, 

Steal to his closet at the hour of prayer ; 
And (when thou hear'st the organ piping shrill) 

Grease his best pen, and all he scribbles, tear. 
Better to bottom tarts and cheesecakes nice, 

Better the roast meat from the fire to save, 
Better be twisted into caps for spice, 

Than thus be patch'd and cobbled in one's grave. 
So York shall taste what Clouet never knew, 

So from our works sublimer fumes shall rise ; 
While Nancy earns the praise to Shakespeare due, 

For glorious puddings, and immortal pies. 

Tell me if you do not like this, and I will 
send you a worse. I rejoice to hear your eyes 
are better, as much as if they were my own ; 
but the cure will never be lasting without a 
little sea. I have been for two days at Hartle- 
pool to taste the waters, and do assure you 
nothing can be salter, and bitterer, and nastier, 
and better for you. They have a most anti- 
scorbutic flavour. I am delighted with the 
place. There are the finest walks, and rocks, 
and caverns, and dried fishes, and all manner 
of small inconveniences a man can wish. I am 
going again this week, so wait your commands. 



THE POET GRAY. 341 

Dr. Wharton would be quite happy to see 
you at Old Park. If you should have kindness 
and resignation enough to come, you must get 
to Darlington, then turn off the great road to 
Merrington, then inquire the way to Spenny- 
moor House, where they will direct you hither. 
Adieu, I am ever yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER XCI. 
REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 
DEAR Mr. GRAY, Aston, July 22nd, 1765. 

As had as your verses were they are yours, 
and, therefore, when I get back to York I will 
paste them carefully in the first page of my 
Shakespeare to enhance its value, for I intend 
it to be put in my marriage settlement as a 
provision for my younger daughters. My eldest 
boy is to be provided for out of Hutton's* nose, 
and I have just now writ to Stonhewer to get 
a reversionary grant of a commission of hawkers 
and pedlars for my second son. When this 

* Gray writes, in 1768, " Mr. Hutton being dead, Mason 
has now a landed estate, the income of which, in a few years, 
will be considerable." Works, v. p. 74. 



342 LETTERS OF 

matter is settled I hope soon to be in posses- 
sion of my gentle Ar gentile ;* for really and sin- 
cerely I have seen her, got her consent, have 
written to her father, and letters now every 
post relative to her jointure. After all, I verily 
believe it will not do, and am at present much 
out of sorts about it; and, was it not that I 
love her more than ever, should wish I had 
been soused head and ears at Hartlepool before 
I had ventured to make my proposals. But no 
more of this ; you will not pity me now, no 
more than you did when I was in residence and 
sore eyes. 

I am here about the commission concerning 
my exchange of glebe, which I hope to finish 
next Wednesday ; after which I shall go soon 
either to Hull or York, unless Lord Holder- 
nesse stops me by coming here next week, 
which, though he talks of doing, I fancy he 
will not. 

I know nothing of politics, except from a 
letter of Eraser's ; that he is taken from Lord 
Northumberland by the Duke of Grafton, and 
is just where he was four years ago with Lord 

* Mason, in calling his bride " gentle Argentile," alludes to 
his play of Argentile and Curan, a legendary drama, written 
about this time. Argentile was the daughter of king Adel- 
bright. See his Works, vol. ii. p. 208. 



THE POET GRAY. 343 

Holdernesse. Poor fellow ! I pity him ; but I 
hope Stonhewer will be good to him, for he is 
a worthy creature. I have no belief, however, 
in the duration of this ministry, unless Mr. 
Pitt* adds himself to it, which I fancy he will 
hardly do. 

You will be very cross I know at this letter, 
since it will tell you that I shall not come to 
Hartlepool; for I know you want somebody 
that you may frump and scold, and say sharp 
things to ; and my dove-like temper would be 
nothing in the world for you after a gulp of sea 
water. However, my eyes are now perfectly 
well, that I laugh at the scurvy. 

I direct this to Dr. Wharton's on supposition 
that you are tired of Hartlepool. Give my best 
compliments to the Dr.f and his lady, and be- 
lieve me to be, as much as I can be any body's 
at present, 

Yours most sincerely, 

W. Mason. 

* On the Administration in 1765, Lord Chesterfield says, 
" The keystone must and -will be Mr. Pitt " See Letters, iv. 
pp. 260-1. Adolphus's History, vol. i. chap. ix. p. 232. 
Belsham's History, b. xiv. p. 103. 

t Doctor Wharton. 



344 LETTERS OF 

LETTER XCIL 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

DEAR SIR, Old Park, Thursday, Aug. 1765. 

It is true I have been lately a very indifferent 
correspondent, but poverty knows no law, and 
must be my excuse. Since the fortnight I 
passed with Mason at York (who was then very 
bad with that troublesome defluxion in his 
eyes, and is since cured, and now stands on the 
brink of marriage), I have been always resi- 
dent *at Old Park, excursions excepted of a day 
or two at a time, and one lately of three weeks 
to Hartlepool. The rocks, the sea, and the 
weather there more than made up to me the 
want of bread and the want of water, two capi- 
tal defects, but of which I learned from the 
inhabitants not to be sensible. They live on 
the refuse of their own fish-market, with a few 
potatoes, and a reasonable quantity of geneva, 
six days in the week, and I have nowhere seen 
a taller, more robust, or healthy race; every 
house full of ruddy broad-faced children ; no- 
body dies but of drowning or old age ; nobody 
poor but from drunkenness or mere laziness. 
I had long wished for a storm, and was treated 



THE POET GRAY. 345 

before I came away with such a one as July 
could produce ; but the waves did not rise 
above twelve feet high, and there was no hurt 
done. On Monday (I believe) I go to Scot- 
land with my lord, 1 * and Tom and the Major. No 
ladies are of the party, they remain at Hetton ;f 
yet I do not expect to see anything, for we go 
post till I come to Glands. 

I hear of Palgrave's safe arrival in England. 
Pray, congratulate him from me, and beg he 
would not give away all his pictures and gems 
till I come. I hope to see him in October. Is 
it true that young Tyrrell does not go into 
orders ? Dr. Hallifax (who was here with Dr. 
Lowth) tells me, that Bridlington | is on his way 
to Nice. The last letter you sent me was from 
Mr! Hamsey, a tenant of mine in Cornhill, who 
wants to see me anent particular business. As 
I know not what it is I go with a little uneasi- 

* Lord Stratlimore and Thomas Lyon. Gray writes to 
Dr. Wharton: " Being just returned from an excursion which 
/ and the Major have been making into the Highlands," &c. 
vol. iv. p. 51. 

"j* See Letter c. A seat of Lord Strathmore's, in Durham, 
near Rainton. 

J Dr. William Eidlington, of Trinity Hall, Professor of 
Civil Law, 1757 ; tutor of the College in 1766 ; died in 1770; 
succeeded in his Professorship by Dr. Halifax. See Gray and 
Nicholls Correspondence, p. 65; and note, p. 188. 



346 LETTERS OF 

ness on my mind farther north. But what can 
one do ? I have told him my situation. 

The Doctor and Mrs. Wharton wish for you 
often, though in vain ; such is your perverse- 
ness. Adieu; I will write again from Scot- 
land more at large. 

I am, ever sincerely yours, 

T. G. 

Are you not glad for Stonhewer ? I have 
heard twice from him, hut it is sub sigillo. 



LETTER XCIII. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, London, Tuesday night, 1765. 

I hope to he with you hy Thursday or Eriday 
se'nnight. You will hardly go before that time 
out of college ; hut if you do, the writings will 
be as safe in your drawers as in mine. You 
have heard so much news from the party that 
were going to Scotland, that it would be a vain 
thing for me to talk about it. I can only add, 
that you will shortly hear, I think, of a great 
change of affairs, which, whenever I come to 
town, always follows. To-day I met with a 
report that Mr. Pitt lies dangerously ill ; but I 



THE POET GRAY. 347 

hope, and rather believe, it is not true. When 
he is gone all is gone, and England will be old 
England again, such as, before his administra- 
tion, it always was ever since we were born. 

I went to-day to Becket's to look at the last 
volume of Seba.* It comes unbound to four 
guineas and a half, and contains all the in- 
sects of that collection (which are exceedingly 
numerous), and some plates of fossils. The 
graving, as usual, very unequal, and the de- 
scriptions as poor as ever. As you have the 
rest, I conclude you must have this, which 
completes the work, and contains the index. 

Are you not glad of the Carlisle t history? 
Walking yesterday in the Windsor Park, I met 
the brother of the disgraced party, and walked 

* Locupletissimi Eerum Naturalium Thesauri accurata 
Descriptio, &c, digessit, descripsit, depingendarum curavit 
Albertus Seba. 4 vols. fol. Amst. 1734—1765. 

f This is an allusion to the well-known duel between Lord 
Byron and Mr. Chaworth, in which the latter was killed. 
See on it Walpole's Misc. Letters, i. 45, iv. 492, v. 20; 
Letters to Mann, vol. i. pp. 195, 226 ; Selwyn Correspondence, 
i. 355, iii. 49; and Walpole's Mem. of George HI., ii. p. 50. 
Isabelle, only sister of Lord Byron, was the wife of the 4th 
Earl of Carlisle. " I feel for both families," says Horace 
Walpole, " though I know none of either, but poor Lady 
Carlisle, whom I am sure you will pity." This was William, 
fifth Lord Byron, born 1722, died 1798. 



348 letters or 

two hours with him. I had a vast inclination 
to wish him joy, but did not dare. Adieu. 

I am ever yours, 



LETTER XCIY. 
TO THE REV. W. MASON. 

Dear Mason, 1765. 

Res est sacra miser (says the poet), but I say 
it is the happy man that is the sacred thing, 
and therefore let the profane keep their dis- 
tance. He is one of Lucretius' gods, supremely 
blessed in the contemplation of his own felicity, 
and what has he to do with worshippers ? This, 
mind, is the first reason why I did not come 
to York : the second is, that I do not love con- 
finement, and probably by next summer may 
be permitted to touch whom, and where, and 
with what I think fit, without giving you any 
offence : the third and last, and not the least 
perhaps, is, that the finances were at so low an 
ebb that I could not exactly do what I wished, 
but was obliged to come the shortest road to 
town and recruit them. I do not justly know 
what your taste in reasons may be, since you 
altered your condition, but there is the in- 



THE POET GRAY. 349 

genious, the petulant, and the dull; for you 
any one would have done, for in my conscience 
I do not believe you care a halfpenny for 
reasons at present ; so God bless ye both, and 
give ye all ye wish, when ye are restored to the 
use of your wishes. 

I am returned from Scotland* charmed with 
my expedition ; it is of the Highlands I speak ; 
the Lowlands are worth seeing once, but the 
mountains are ecstatic, and ought to be visited 
in pilgrimage once a year. None but those 
monstrous creatures of God know how to join 
so much beauty with so much horror. A fig 
for your poets, painters, gardeners, and clergy- 
men, that have not been among them; their 
imagination can be made up of nothing but 
bowling-greens, flowering shrubs, horse-ponds, 
Meet- ditches, shell- grottoes, and Chinese rails. 
Then I had so beautiful an autumn, Italy could 
hardly produce a nobler scene, and this so 
sweetly contrasted with that perfection of nasti- 
ness, and total want of accommodation, that 
Scotland only can supply. Oh, you would have 
blessed yourself. I shall certainly go again; 
what a pity it is I cannot draw, nor describe, 
nor ride on horseback. 

* See a long and interesting letter from Gray to Dr. Whar- 
ton, describing his visit to Scotland, cxxxi., Works, vol. iv. p. 51. 



350 LETTERS OF 

Stonhewer is the busiest creature upon earth 
except Mr. Eraser ; they stand pretty tight, for 
all his Hoyal Highness.* Have you read (oh 
no, I had forgot) Dr. Lowth's pamphlet t against 

* This probably relates to the death of the Duke of Cum- 
berland, who was understood to have formed the present 
administration, and to constitute great part of its strength. 
(Mason.) 

■f On this celebrated Letter of Dr. Lowth, among other books 
that may be referred to, are the Monthly Eeview, 1765, vol. 
ii> p. 369; Nichols's Illustrations of Literature, iii. 711- 
714; viii. 407; Nichols's Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 637, ii. 455, 
iv. 334; Dr. Parr's Warburtonian Tracts, p. 182. It was 
the cause of so many other letters from the friends and 
advocates of either party, that my copy of this little pam- 
phlet has swelled by such additions into two octavo volumes. 
It is with pleasure that we know these two very eminent 
men were subsequently reconciled, though some little doubt 
is supposed to hang on the subject; on which point see Mr. 
Peter Hall's Memoir of Lowth, pp. 28, 29, who, I think, is 
justified in his conclusion, concerning the incorrectness of the 
anecdote given in the Parriana by Mr. Barker. Surely 
Warburton, with all his coarseness of language, would not 
have ranked Lowth among " the scavengers of literature;" and 
the whole weight of the anecdote related, depends on his 
glancing his eye on Lowth as he spoke in a public room. Dr. 
Parr says, " Warburton's setting lustre was viewed with nobler 
feelings than those of mere forgiveness, by the amiable and 
venerable Dr. Lowth." " Ahenside^ Dr. Warton informs his 
brother, " thought highly of Lowth's letter, but that he had 
been coarse in places. Lord Lyttelton seemed to admit that 
Lowth had gutted the letters and given the substance, but not 



THE POET GRAY. 351 

your uncle the Bishop ? Oh, how he works him. 
I hear he will soon be on the same bench. To- 
day Mr. Hurd came to see me, but we had not 
a word of that matter ; he is grown pure and 
plump, just of the proper breadth for a cele- 
brated town-preacher. There was Dr. Balguy 
too : he says Mrs. Mason is very handsome, so 
you are his friend for ever. Lord Newnham, 
I hear, has ill health of late : it is a nervous 
case, so have a care : how do your eyes do? 

Adieu : my respects to the bride. I would 
kiss her, but you stand by and pretend it is not 
the fashion, though I know they do so at Hull. 

I am, ever yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER XCV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR MASON,* Pembroke Hall, Saturday, 1765. 

I rejoice; but has she common sense ? Is she 
a gentlewoman ? Has she money ? Has she a 

the real correspondence." Garriek was furious about publishing 
them. See Wooll's Life of Dr. Warton, p. 312. 

* Mason married on the 25th of September, 1765, the 
daughter of William Sherman, Esq., of Hull, who died at 
Bristol, March 27, 1767. " Ah ! amantissima, optima, fceniina 
vale ! " was a note written by Mason, which I found among 
his manuscripts. 



352 LETTERS OE 

nose ? I know she sings a little, and twiddles on 
the harpsichord, hammers at sentiment, and puts 
herself in an attitude, admires a cast in the 
eye, and can say Elfrida by heart. But these 
are only the virtues of a maid. Do let her 
have some wifelike qualities, and a double por- 
tion of prudence, as she will have not only her- 
self to govern, but you also, and that with an 
absolute sway. Your friends, I doubt not, will 
suffer for it. However, we are very happy, 
and have no other wish than to see you settled 
in the world. We beg you would not stand 
fiddling about it, but be married forthwith, 
and then take chaise, and come * # # # 
all the way to Cambridge to be touched by Mr. 
Brown, and so to London, where, to be sure, 
she must pass the first winter. If good 
reasons (and not your own nor her coquetry) 
forbid this, yet come hither yourself, for our 
copuses and Welsh rabbits are impatient for you. 
I sent your letter to Algarotti directly. My 
Coserella came a long while ago, from Mr. 
Holies, I suppose, who sent me, without a 
name, a set of his engravings, when I was last 
in town ; which, I reckon, is what you mean 
by your fine presents. The Congresso di Ci- 
tera was not one of the books. That was my 
mistake. I like his treatises very well. 



THE POET GRAY. 353 

I hope in God the dedicatorial sonnet has 
not staid for nie. I object nothing to the second 
line, hut like it the better for Milton, and with 
him too I would read in penult, (give me a 
shilling) " his ghastly smile,"* &c. But if yon 
wont pnt it in, then read " wonted smile, " and a 
little before " secure from envy." I see nothing 
to alter. "What I said was the best line is the 
best line still. Do come hither, and I will 
read and criticise " your amorons ditties all a 
winters day." Adien, I am truly yonrs. I 
hope her hair is not red thongh. I have been 
abroad, or I had wrote sooner. 



LETTER XCVI. 
TO THE REY. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, 

I rejoice to find yon are both in health, and 
that one or other of yon at least can have yonr 
teeming time : yon are wise as a serpent, but 
the devil of a dove, in timing both yonr satire 
and your compliments. When a man stands 

* A jocose allusion to what Gray, in another place, calls 
Lord Holdernesse's ugly face. 

2 A 



Q 



54d LETTERS OF 



oil the very verge of dissolution, with all his 
unblushing honours thick upon him ; when the 
gout has nipped him in the bud and blasted all 
his hopes at least for one winter, then come 
you buzzing about his nose, and strike your 
sting deep into the reddest, angriest part of his 
toe, which will surely mortify.^ When another 
has been weak enough in the plenitude of power 
to disarm himself of his popularity, and to con- 
ciliate a court that naturally hates him, submits 
to be decked in their trappings and fondle their 
lap-dogs, then come you to lull him with your 
gentlest hum, recalling his good deeds, and 
hoping what I (with all my old partialities) 
scarce should dare to hope, if I had but any 
one else to put my trust in. Let you alone, 
where spite and interest are in view : ay, ay, 
Mrs. M. (I see) will be a bishopess. 

Well, I transcribed your wickedness in a 
print hand, and sent it by last Sunday's post 
to Dr. Gisborne, with your orders about it, for 
I had heard St.f say that he hoped for a 
month's respite to go into the North, and did 
not know but he might be gone. G. was to 
send me word he had received it, but has not 

* Lord Chatham ; a few months seemed to restore him to 
all his popularity, as was evinced by the King's visit to the 
City. t Mr « Stonhewer. 



THE POET GRAY. 355 

yet done so, and (Lord bless me) who knows 
but he may be gone into Derbyshire, and the 
Ode gone after him ; if so, mind I am innocent, 
and meant for the best. I liked it vastly, and 
thought it very well turned and easy, especially 
the diabolical part of it. I fear it will not 
keep, and would have wished the public might 
have eat it fresh; but, if any untoward accident 
should delay it, it will be still better than most 
things that appear at their table. 

I shall finish where you begun, with my 
apology. You say you have neglected me, and 
(to make it relish the better) with many others : 
for my part I have not neglected you, but I 
have always considered the happy, that is, new- 
married people, as too sacred or too profane a 
thing to be approached by me ; when the year 
is over, I have no longer any respect or aver- 
sion for them. 

Adieu : I am in no spirits, and perplexed 
besides with many little cares, but always 

Sincerely yours, 

T. G. 

P.S. — My best respects to Madam in her 
grogram gown. I have long since heard that 
you were out of pain with regard to her health. 
Mr. Brown is gone to see his brother near 

Margate. 

2 A 2 



356 LETTERS OF 

LETTER XCVII. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, Jermyn Street, 15 May, 1766. 

To-morrow morning I set out for Canterbury. 
If any letter comes, I believe it will be better to 
direct to me as usual at Mr. Itoberts's here, and 
lie will take care to send it. I know not how 
long my stay in Kent may be : it depends on 
the agreeability of Mr. Hobinson and his wife. 

You expect to hear who is Secretary of State. 
I cannot tell.^ It is sure this morning it was 
not determined; perhaps Lord Egmont; per- 
haps Lord Hardwicke (for I do not believe he 
has refused, as is said) ; f perhaps you may hear 

* May 23rd, 1766, Charles Duke of Richmond appointed 
Secretary of State, vice the Duke of Grafton. Succeeded 
August 2, by the Earl of Shelburne. See Walpole's 
Memoirs of George III. vol. ii. p. 324, who says, " I resolved 
to try to make the Duke of Richmond Secretary of State; 
Lord Hardwicke (the second Lord) declined the offer." Wal- 
pole describes the latter as " a bookish man, conversant only 
with parsons, ignorant of the world and void of all breeding, 
was as poor a choice as could be made." See Adolphus's 
History, vol. i. p. 224. Walpole's Misc. Letters, v. p. 148. 

j" See Lord Hardwicke's letter to his brother, dated 1 4 May, 
on the offer of the seals made to him; and another, 15 May, 
declining the offer. 



THE POET GRAY. 357 

of three instead of two. Charles Townshend 
affirms he has rejected both that office and a 
peerage ; doubtless from his firm adherence to 
Mr. Pitt — a name which the court, I mean Lord 
Tt., Lord Nd., and even Lord E. # himself, at 
present affect to celebrate, with what design 
you are to judge. You have doubtless heard of 
the honour done to your friend Mrs. Macaulay.f 
Mr. Pitt has made a panegyric of her History in 
the house. J It is very true Wilkes has arrived. 
The tumults in Spain spread wider and wider, 
while at Naples they are publicly thanking God 

# Lord Talbot, Lord Northumberland, Lord Bute. On 
Lord Talbot, see Lord Mahon's History, v. p. 29; Kocking- 
ham Papers, i p. 172; Grenville Papers, i. 421. Lord Talbot 
was a Court favourite. See also Walpole's Letters to Mann, 
voi. i. p. 20-23 ; Walpole's Memoirs of George the Third, 
vol. i. pp. 74, 81. The Earl of Northumberland (Sir H. J. 
Percy) married Lord Bute's daughter. See Walpole's History 
of George HT. vol. i p. 419 ; ii. p. 41. He was also a favourite. 

t Professor Smyth, in his Lectures on Modern History, 
designates Mrs. Macaulay's History, " as very laborious and 
unfavourable to Charles L" vol. i. p. 15. " When any doubt 
is entertained of the conduct of Charles, Mrs. Macaulay may 
be referred to, and a charge against him, if it can possibly be 
made out, will assuredly be found, and supported with all the 
references that the most animated eloquence can supply." 
Ibid p. 407. 

^ No account of this panegyric appears in Thackeray's 
Life of Lord Chatham. 



358 LETTERS OF 

for their cessation ; perhaps yon may hear. All 
is not well in Ireland. It is very late at night. 
Adien. Pa. went home to-day, and Mr. Weddell 
with him. J. Wheeler has returned from Lishon. 
The great match will not be till after Christmas. 
Torn* is gone to Scotland. It is sure the lady 
did refuse both Lord Mountstuart and the Duke 
of Beaufort, f Good night. 

I came away in debt to you for two post- 
chaises. Pray set it down. 

* This is Lyon. 

•j* " Lord Mountstuart going to be married to one of the Miss 
Windsors." See Walpole's George III. p. 87. See also Lord 
Chesterfield's Letters, iv. p. 276. " These two sisters are 
more sought for their money than for their beauty." The 
Duke of Beaufort married June 6th, 1766, Elizabeth, youngest 
daughter of Admiral Boscawen. Francis Viscount Beauchamp 
(second Marquis of Hertford) married 1 February, 1768, 
Alicia, second daughter of Viscount Windsor. Horace Wal- 
pole, in a letter to George Montague, says, " Lord Beauchamp 
is going to marry the second Miss Windsor. It is odd that 
these two ugly girls should get the two best figures in England, 
him and Lord Mountstuart." See Misc. Letters, v. 175, and 
Selwyn Correspondence, ii. p. 92. " There is," says a 
moralist, " no better scale by which to judge of the low code 
of morality adopted by society than their indulgent view of 
mercenary marriages." 



THE POET GRAY. 359 

LETTER XCVIII. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, p. Hail, 5th Oct. 1766. 

I was going to write to you when I received 
your letter, and on the same subject. The first 
news I had was from Stonhewer on the 23rd 
September, in these words : " This morning Dr. 
Brown dispatched himself. He had been for 
several days past very low-spirited, and within 
the last two or three talked of the necessity of 
dying, in such a manner as to alarm the people 
about him. They removed, as they thought, 
every thing that might serve his purpose ; but he 
had contrived to get at a razor unknown to them, 
and took the advantage of a minute's absence 
of his servants to make use of it." I wrote 
to him again (I suspect he knows our secret, 
though not from me) to make farther inquiries, 
and he says, 27th September, " I have tried to 
find out whether there was any appearance or 
cause of discontent in Brown, # but can hear of 
none. A bodily complaint of the gouty kind, 
that fell upon the nerves and affected his spirits 

* In addition to the former note on Letter xvn. see Wal- 
pole's Misc. Letters, iii. 90; Index to Nichols's Literary Anec- 
dotes, under " Brown, Dr. John." 



360 LETTERS OF 

in a very great degree, is all that I can get any 
information of; and I am told besides, that he 
was some years ago in the same dejected way, 
and nnder the care of proper attendants." Mr. 
W. # too, in answer to a letter I had written to 
inquire after his health, after giving an account 
of himself while under the care of Pringle, adds, 
" He (Pringle) had another patient at the same 
time, who has ended very unhappily — that poor 
Dr. Brown. The unfortunate man apprehended 
himself going mad, and two nights after cut his 
throat in hed."f This is all I know at present of 
the matter. I have told it you literally, and I 
conceal nothing. As I go to town to-morrow, if 
I learn anything more you shall soon hear from 
me ; in the mean time, I think we may fairly 
conclude that, if he had had any other cause 
added to his constitutional infirmity, it would 

* Horace Walpole. 

f Lady Hervey's Letters, p. 229 ; Lord Chesterfield's 
Letters, Iv. 275; Hey's Lectures on Divinity, i. p. 454; Life 
of Lord Lyttelton, by Philliinore, p. 511. But the passage 
which throws most light on the somewhat mysterious circum- 
stances attending Mr. Brown's death, is to be found in Nichols's 
Illustrations of Literature of the Eighteenth Century, vol. iii. 
p. 715-718, taken from a letter by Mr. Archdeacon Black- 
burne to the printer of the St. James's Chronicle, 1766, which, 
being too long for a note, is printed at the end of this Corre- 
spondence, in an Appendix, No. 1. 



THE POET GRAY. 361 

have been uppermost in his mind. He would 
have talked or rayed about it, and the first 
tiling we should have heard of would have been 
this, which, I do assure you, I have never heard 
from anybody. There is in this neighbourhood 
a Mr. Wall, who once was in the Russian trade, 
and married a woman of that country. He 
always maintained that Dr. Brown would never 
go thither, whatever he might pretend, and that, 
though fond of the glory of being invited thither, 
he would certainly find or make a pretence for 
staying at home; very possibly, therefore, he 
might have engaged himself so far that he knew 
not how to draw back with honour, or might 
have received rough words from the Russian 
minister, offended with his prevarication. This 
supposition is at least as likely as yours, added 
to what I have said before ; much more so, if it 
be necessary to suppose any other cause than 
the lunatic disposition of the man ; and yet I 
will not disguise to you that I felt as you do on 
the first news of this sad accident, and had the 
same uneasy ideas about it. 

I am sorry the cause you mention should be 
the occasion of your coming to London, though, 
perhaps, change of air may do more than medi- 
cine. In this length of time I should think 
you must be fully apprised whether her looks, 



362 LETTERS OF 

or strength, or embonpoint have suffered by this 
cough; if not, surely there is no real danger; 
yet I do not wonder she should wish to get rid 
of so troublesome a companion. 

When I can meet with the book I will tran- 
scribe what you mention from Mallet. I shall 
write again soon. Do you know of any great, 
or at least rich, family that want a young man 
worth his weight in gold, to take care of their 
eldest hope. If you do, remember I have such 
a one, or shall have (I fear) shortly to sell ; but 
they must not stand haggling about him ; and 
besides, they must be very good sort of people 
too, or they shall not have him. Adieu. My 
respects to Mrs. Mason. 

I am ever sincerely yours, 



Mr. Brown desires his best compliments to 
you both. 



LETTER XCIX. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Jermyn Street, at Mr. Roberts's. 

Oct. 9, 1766. 

I am desired to tell you, that if you still 
continue to be tired of residence, or are in any 



THE POET GRAY. 363 

way moderately ambitious or covetous, there 
never was a better opportunity. The Duke of 
Grafton is extremely well inclined, and you 
know who is at hand to give his assistance; but 
the apparent channel should be your friend, 
Lord Holdernesse, who is upon good terms. 
This was said to rne in so friendly a way, that I 
could not but acquaint you of it immediately. 

I have made inquiry, since I came hither, 
on a subject that seemed much to take up your 
thoughts, and, I do assure you, find not the 
least grounds to give you uneasiness. It was 
mere distemper, and nothing more. Adieu. 
I am sincerely yours, 

T. G. 

My respects to Mrs. Mason. 



LETTER C. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, Jermyn Street, Oct. 23, 1766. 

I observed that AnseP was dead, and made 
the same reflection about it that you did. I 

* See Gray's Letter to Mr. Nicholls of Blundeston, Oct. 14, 
1766, on the deatli of Ansel, a lay Fellow of Mr. Nicholls's 
College. See Works, vol. v. p. 65- Ansel was a Fellow of 
Trinity Hall, 22 years senior in standing to Mr. Nicholls. 



364 LETTERS OF 

also wrote to remind N.* of it, but have heard 
nothing since. We have great scarcity of 
news here. Every thing is in Lord Ch's 
breast. If what lies hid there be no better 
than what comes to light, I would not give 
sixpence to know it. Spain was certainly of- 
fered to Lord Weymouth, and in the second 
place, some say to Sandwich ; at last, perhaps, 
Sir James Gray may go. But who goes 
Secretary do you think ? I leave Mr. T. and 
you ten guesses a-piece, and yet they will be all 
wrong. Mr. Prowsef has refused the Post Of- 
fice. I do not believe in any more dukes, un- 
less, perhaps, my Lord Marquis of Rockingham 
should like it. The Prince of Wales has been 
ill of what they call a fever. They say he is 
better, but Sir J. Pringle continues to lie every 
night at Kew. My Lady — has discarded 

* Mr. Norton Nicholls. 

■f See Grenville Papers for mention of Mr. Proivse, vol. i. 
p. 396, Duke of Newcastle's estimation of him; and p. 398, 
for Mr. Grenville's letter to Mm, Oct. 14, 1761, offering him 
the Speakership of the House of Commons ; and p. 402, for his 
answer- In a letter from Mr. Nugent to Mr. Grenville, 
Oct. 1764, he says, " Prowse is here (at Bath), not at all well, 
and lives very much retired. I have heard some things of him 
which I do not entirely like, although they are only sympto- 
matic." Mr Prowse was M.P. for Somersetshire for many 
years, and died in 1767. 



THE POET GRAY. 365 

Thynne* and taken to Sir T.Delaval,t they say. 
The clothes are actually making, bnt possibly 
she may jilt them both. The clerk who was 
displaced in the Post Office lost 1,700Z. a-year. 
Would you think there could be such under- 
offices there ? Have you read Mr. Grenville's 
Considerations J on the merits of his own Ad- 
ministration ? It is all figures ; so, I suppose, 
it must be true. Have you read Mr. Sharp 
the surgeon's Travels into Italy ? § I recom- 

* Thomas Thynne, third Viscount Weymouth, " an incon- 
siderable, debauched young man, attached to the Bedfords." 
See Walpole's George III. ii. 176, and Sir D. Le Merchant's 
note for further account of him. He was named for Lord Lieu- 
tenant of Ireland, but never went over. See Walpole's 
George HI. vol. in. p. 136; iv. pp. 237, 241, 246. In after 
life he made a much better and more conspicuous figure. 

| Sir John Delaval died 1727. Sir Thomas Delaval, his 
son, succeeded. Concerning the descendants of this baronetcy 
nothing further is known. See Courthope's Extinct Baronet- 
age, p 61. 

J George Grenville's " Candid Eefutation of the Charges 
brought against the present Ministers, in a late pamphlet, 
entitled, The Principles of the late Charges impartially con- 
sidered, in a Letter to the supposed Author." 8vo. 1765. 

§ See Monthly Review, 1766, p. 399-431, and a good 
character of them in BoswelTs Johnson, vi. 177; again in 
Johnsoniana, p. 442, 8vo. Dr. Johnson says, "As to Italy, 
Baretti painting the fair side, and Sharp the foul, the truth 
perhaps lies between the two." 



366 LETTERS OF 

mend these two authors to you instead of Livy 
and Quintilian. 

Palgrave, I suppose, you have by this time 
seen and sifted ; if not, I must tell you, his 
letter was dated from Glamis, 30 Sept.,* 
Tuesday night. He was that day returned 
from my tour in the Highlands, delighted 
with their beauties, though he saw the Alps last 
year. The Priday following he was to set out 
for Hetton,f where his stay would not be long ; 
then pass four days at Newby, J and as much at 
York, and so to Cambridge, where, ten to one, 
he has not yet arrived. Tom outstripped Lord 
Panmure at the county court at Forfar all to 
nothing. Dr. Richmond § is body chaplain to 
the Duke of Athol, lives at Dunkeld, and eats 
muir-f owls' livers every day. If you know this 
already, who can help it ? 



* Glamis, in Forfarshire, a seat of Lord Strathmore's. 

| Hetton, in Durham, was the seat of the Hon. Thomas 
Lyon, brother of Lord Strathmore. 

\ Neivby was Mr. WeddelFs seat in Yorkshire. 

§ Probably Richard Richmond, who became Bishop of Sodor 
and Man 1773, and died in 1780, son of a Sylvester Richmond, 
rector of Walton, in Lancashire. He was of the family that 
produced many clergymen of that name in the last century, 
all descended from a Sylvester Richmond, a physician in 
Liverpool towards the close of the 1 7th century. 



THE POET GRAY. 367 

Pray tell me, how do you do ; and let me 
know the sum total of my bill. Adieu. 

I am ever yours, T. G. 

Commend me to Mr. Talbot and Dr. Gis- 
borne. Delaval is coming to you. Is Mr. 
Mapletoft there ? If not, he will lie in my 
rooms. 



LETTER CI. 
TO THE REY. JAMES BROWN. 

DEAR SlR, Jerinyn Street, 18 Nov. 1766. 

I paid the sum above-mentioned this morn- 
ing at Gillam's office in Bishop sgate Street. 
The remittance you will please to pay out of it. 
I have not time to add all the bad news of the 
times, but in a few days you shall have some of 
it ; though the worst of all is just what I can- 
not write. I am perfectly out of humour, and 
so will you be. 

Mason is here, and has brought his wife, a 
pretty, modest, innocent, interesting figure, 
looking like 18, though she is near 28. She 
does not speak, only whispers, and her cough 
as troublesome as ever ; yet I have great hopes 



368 LETTERS OF 

there is nothing consumptive. She is strong 
and in good spirits. We were all at the opera 
together on Saturday last. They desire their 
loves to yon. I have seen Mr. Talbot and 
Delaval lately. Adieu. I am ever yours, 

T. G. 

I cannot find Mons. de la Chalotais* in any 
of the shops. Lord Strathmore, I am told, is 
to be married here. I know nothing of Pa. 
but that he was still at Mr. WeddelTs a fort- 
night since. Be so good to tell me you have 
received this, if you can, by the return of the 
post. 

* Louis Rene de Chalotais, born 1701, died 1785, cele- 
brated for the part lie took in the expulsion of the Jesuits, 
and for his dangerous dispute with D'Aiguilon, which was 
near leading him to the scaffold. He wrote his Memoirs, and 
an Essay on National Education, in 1763. He was a man 
of courage, wit, and talent. See Lacretelle's History, vol. iv. 
p. 115, and vi. p. 3. Walpole says, in a letter to Conway, 
" The accusation against Chalotais is for treason. What do 
you think the treason is ? a correspondence with Mr, Pitt, to 
whom he is made to say, "that Rennes is nearer to London 
than Paris." It is now believed that the letters, supposed to 
have been written by Chalotais, were forged by a Jesuit; 
those to Mr. Pitt could not have even so good an author." 
See Walpole's Miscellaneous Correspondence, vol. v. p. 106 ; 
and Chateaubriand Memoires d'outre-Tombe,vol.ii. pp. 25, 36. 
ed. 1849, Bruxelles. 



THE POET GRAY. 369 

LETTER CII. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, p em b. Hail, Jan. 27, 1767. 

Dean Swift says, one never should write to 
one's friends but in high health and spirits. 
By the way it is the last thing people in those 
circumstances usually think of doing. But it 
is sure, if I were to wait for them, I never 
should write at all. At present, I have had 
for these six weeks a something growing in my 
throat, which nothing does any service to, and 
which will, I suppose, in due time stop up the 
passage. I go however about, and the pain is 
very little. You will say, perhaps, the malady 
is as little, and the stoppage is in the imagi- 
nation ; no matter for that. If it is not suf- 
ficient to prove want of health (for indeed this 
is all I ail), it is so much the stronger proof of 
the want of spirits. So, take it as you please, I 
carry my point, and shew you that it is very 
obliging in me to write at all. Indeed, per- 
haps, on your account, I should not have done 
it, but, after three such weeks of Lapland 
weather, I cannot but inquire after Mrs. 
Mason's health. If she has withstood such a 
winter and her cough never the worse, she 

2b 



370 LETTERS OF 

may defy the doctors and all their works. 
Pray, tell me how she is, for I interest myself 
for her, not merely on your account, but on 
her own. These last three mornings have been 
very vernal and mild. Has she tasted the air 
of the new year, at least in Hyde Park ? 

Mr. Brown will wait on her next week, and 
touch her. He has been confined to lie on a 
conch, and under the surgeon's hands ever 
since the first of January with a broken shin, 
ill doctored. He has just now got abroad, and 
obliged to come to town about Monday, on par- 
ticular business. 

Stonhewer was so kind as to tell me the 
mystery now accomplished, before I received 
your letter. I rejoice in all his accessions. I 
wish you would persuade him to take unto him 
a wife, but, do not let her be a fine lady. Adieu. 
Present my respects and good wishes to Argen- 
tile.* I am, truly yours, 

T. G. 

* Mrs. Mason. See p. 342. 



THE POET GRAY. 371 



LETTEE CIII. 
THE REV, WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 
DEAR Mr. GRAY, Cleveland Row, Feb. 2, 1767. 

No, alas ! she has not withstood the severity 
of the weather ; it nipped her as it would have 
done a flower half withered before, and she has 
been this last month in a most weak condition. 
Yet this present fine season has enabled me to 
get her three or four times out into the air, 
and it seems to have had some good effect, yet 
not enough to give me any substantial hopes of 
her recovery. There are few men in the world 
that can have a competent idea of what I have 
of late felt, and still feel; yet you are one of 
those few, and I am sure will give me a full 
share of your pity. Were I to advise Ston- 
hewer to a wife, it should certainly be to a fine 
lady; it should not be to one he could love 
to the same degree that I do this gentle, this 
innocent creature. 

I hope she will be well enough to see Mr. 
Brown when he comes. Pray tell him we have 
changed our lodgings, and are to be found at 
Mr. Menniss', a tailor, at the Golden Ball, in 
Cleveland Row, the last door but one nearest 

2 b 2 



372 LETTERS OF 

the Green Park wall. Would to God he would 
persuade you to come with him. 

If I had spirits for it, I would congratulate 
you on the new Bishop of Cloyne. Is it not, 
think you, according to the order of things (I 
mean not the general hut the peculiar order 
of our own times), that the mitre which so 
lately was on the brows of the man with every 
virtue under heaven should now adorn those 
of our friend Erederic ? # 

I think it probable that the swelling you 
complain of in your throat is owing to some 
little swelling in a gland. I had a complaint 
of the same kind a great while, and after I used 
myself, first, to a flannel round my neck at night, 
and, afterwards, constantly lying in my stock, 
the disorder left me. I wish you would try the 
same method, if you have not tried it already. 
Dear Mr. Gray, believe me to be, 
Yours most cordially, 

W. Mason. 

My wife sends her kindest compliments. 

* Honourable Frederic Hervey (afterwards Earl of Bristol), 
translated to Cloyne, 1767, and to Derry in 1768. Gray's 
allusion is to Bishop Berkeley, as drawn by Pope, in lines warm 
from the hand of friendship. 

Manners with candour are to Sutton grven, 
To Berkeley every virtue under heaven. 

Epilogue to the Satires. 



THE POET GRAY. 373 

LETTER CIV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR MASON, Sunday, Feb. 15, 1767. 

It grieves me to hear the bad account you 
give of our poor patient's health. I will not 
trouble you to inquire into the opinions of her 
physicians; as you are silent on that head, I 
doubt you are grown weary of the inutility of 
their applications. I, you will remember, am 
at a distance, and cannot judge, but by con- 
jecture, of the progress her disorder seems to 
make, and particularly of that increasing weak- 
ness which seems, indeed, an alarming symp- 
tom. I am told that the sea-air is advised as 
likely to be beneficial, and that Lord Holder- 
nesse offers you the use of Walmer Castle,* but 

* Lord Holdernesse had the Cinque Ports given to him on 
his retirement from office. See Walpole, in a letter to Mann, 
vol. i. p. 234. "You will ask what becomes of Lord Holder- 
nesse ? Truly he is no unlucky man. For a day or two he 
will be Groom of the Stole, with an addition of ] 0001. a-year. 
At last he has the reversion of the Cinque Ports for life, after 
the Duke of Dorset, who is extremely infirm." See also 
Belsham's History, v. p. 18. " Lord Holdernesse having secured 
an ample pecuniary indemnification, together with the rever- 
sion of the Cinque Ports, resigned the seals." See also Lord 
Melville's Diary, p. 416; Waldegrave Memoirs, p. 121; 



374 LETTERS OF 

that you wait till the spring is more advanced to 
put this in execution. I think I should by no 
means delay at all. The air of the coast is 
at all seasons warmer than that of the inland 
country. The weather is now mild and open, 
and (unless the rains increase) fit for travelling. 
Remember how well she bore the journey to 
London ; and it is certain that sort of motion, 
in her case, instead of fatigue, often brings an 

Harris's Life of Lord Hardwick, vol. iii, p. 242 ; and nume- 
rous places in Walpole's Letters and Histories, where much of 
him occur, as Miscellaneous Letters, i. 342; iii. 41, 296; 
iv. 301, 434; History of George II. vol. i. 198; ii. 84, 124; 
History of George III. vol. i. p. 42; iii. p. 223; iv. p. 311, 
314. To the office of Lord Warden a salary of 5000Z. a-year 
was attached in May 19, 1778. George III. wrote to Lord 
North, " I never meant to grant you the Wardenship of the 
Cinque Ports for life. The being over-persuaded, when quite 
ignorant of public business, to grant that office for life to Lord 
Holdernesse, for a particular object, is no reason for doing so 
now. I daily find the evil of putting so many employments 
out of the power of the Crown, and for the rest of my life I 
will not confer any in that way, unless when ancient practice 
has made it a matter of course. I will confer it on you, during 
pleasure, with an additional salary, to make it equal to the 
sum received by Lord Holdernesse." See Lord Mahon's His- 
tory, vi. xli. Lord Barrington, in a letter to Mitchell, says, 
"Our friend Holdernesse is finally in harbour; he has 4000/. 
a-year for life, with the reversionship of the Cinque Ports after 
the Duke of Dorset," &c. 



THE POET GRAY. 375 

accession of strength. I have lately seen that 
coast, and been in Deal Castle, which is very 
similar in situation to Walmer and many other 
little neighbouring forts ; no doubt, you may 
be very well lodged and accommodated there. 
The scene is delightful in fine weather, but in 
a stormy day and high wind (and we are but 
just got so far in the year as the middle of 
February), exposed to all the rage of the sea 
and full force of the east wind ; so that, to a per- 
son unused to the sea, it may be even dreadful. 
My idea, therefore, is that you might go at 
present to Hamsgate, which is sheltered from 
the north, and opening only to the south and 
south-east, with a very fine pier to walk on.* 
It is a neat town, seemingly, with very clean 
houses to lodge in, and one end of it only 
running down to the shore ; it is at no season 
much pestered with company, and at present, 
I suppose, there is nobody there. If you find 
Mrs. Mason the better for this air and situa- 
tion (which God send), when May and fine 

* Sir Egerton Brydges told me that when Gray was staying 
in Kent with his friend the Rev. W. Robinson, they went over 
to Ramsgate. The stone pier had just been built. Some one 
said, " For what did they make this pier ?" Gray imme- 
diately said, " For me to walk on" and proceeded, with long 
strides, to claim possession of it. — Ed. 



376 LETTERS OE 

settled weather come in, you will easily remove 
to Walmer, which at that season will be de- 
lightful to her. If — forgive me for supposing 
the worst, your letter leaves me too much 
reason to do so, though I hope it was only the 
effect of a melancholy imagination — if it should 
be necessary to meet the spring in a milder 
climate than ours is, you are very near Dover, 
and perhaps this expedient (if she grow very 
visibly worse) may be preferable to all others, 
and ought not to be deferred : it is usually too 
long delayed. 

There are a few words in your letter that 
make me believe you wish I were in town. I 
know myself how little one like me is formed 
to support the spirits of another, or give him 
consolation; one that always sees things in 
their most gloomy aspect. However, be assured 
I should not have left London while you were 
in it, if I could well have afforded to stay there 
till the beginning of April, when I am usually 
there. This, however, shall be no hindrance, if 
you tell me it would signify anything to you 
that I should come sooner. Adieu : you (both 
of you) have my best and sincerest good wishes. 
I-am ever yours, T. G. 

P.S. — Remember, if you go into Kent, that 



THE POET GRAY. 377 

W. Hobinson lives at Denton (eight miles from 
Dover) ; perhaps he and his wife might be of 
some little use to you. Him you know ; and 
for her, she is a very good-humoured, cheerful 
woman, that (I dare swear) would give any 
kind of assistance in her power; remember, too, 
to take whatever medicines you use with you 
from London. A country apothecary's shop 
is a terrible thing. # 

My respects to Dr. Gisborne, and love to 
Stonhewer. When you have leisure and incli- 
nation, I should be very glad to hear from 
you. Need I repeat my kindest good wishes 
to Mrs. Mason. 



LETTER CV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
MY DEAR MASON, March 28, 1767. 

I break in upon you at a moment when we 
least of all are permitted to disturb our friends, 
only to say that you are daily and hourly pre- 

* So it was in those days, for Adam Smith computes the 
value of all the drugs in the shop of a country apothecary at 
no more than 25Z.! 



378 LETTERS OF 

sent to my thoughts. If the worst be not yet 
passed, you will neglect and pardon me ; but if 
the last struggle be over, if the poor object of 
your long anxieties be no longer sensible to 
your kindness, or to her own sufferings, allow 
me (at least in idea, for what could I do were 
I present more than this), to sit by you in 
silence, and pity from my heart, not her who is 
at rest, but you who lose her. May He who 
made us, the Master of our pleasures and of 
our pains, preserve and support you. Adieu ! 

I have long understood how little you had 
to hope. 

Note.— As this little billet, which I received 
at the Hot Wells almost the precise moment 
when it would be most affecting, then breathed 
and still seems to breathe the voice of friend- 
ship in its tenderest and most pathetic note, I 
cannot refrain from publishing it in this place. 

(Mason.) 



THE POET GRAY. 379 

LETTER CVL 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

Dear Mr. Gray, Bath, April 1st, 1767. 

The dear testimonial of your friendship 
reached Bristol about the time when the last 
offices were done to my lost angel at the cathe- 
dral, and was brought to me hither just now, 
where I had fled to my Wadsworth relations a 
few hours before the ceremony. I cannot ex- 
press the state of my mind or health, I know 
not what either of them are ; but I think that 
I mean at present to steal through London 
very soon and come to you at Cambridge, 
though I fear it is about the time you are 
going to town. I have business there with 
Sidney College. I can add no more but that 
I am as much 

Yours as I am my own, 

W. M. 



380 LETTERS or 

LETTER CVII. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR MASON, Jermyn Street, May 23, 1767. 

All this time have I been waiting to say 
something to the purpose, and now am just as 
far off as at first. Stuart appointed Mr. Wed- 
dell an hour when I was to meet him; and 
(after staying an infinite while at his lodgings 
in expectation) he never came, indeed he was 
gone out of town. The drawing and your 
questions remain in "Weddell's hands to be 
shown to this rogue as soon as he can meet 
with him ; but I firmly believe when he has 
got them he will do nothing, so you must tell 
me what I am to do with them. I have shown 
the Epitaph to no one but Hurd, who entirely 
approves it. He made no objection but to one 
line (and that was mine),* " Heav'n lifts," &c. 
so if you please to make another you may ; for 
my part I rather like it still. 

I begin to think of drawing northwards (if 

* Gray wrote the three last lines of Mason's epitaph on his 
wife : — 

" Yet, the dread path once trod, 
Heav'n lifts its everlasting portals high, 
And bids the poor in heart behold their God." 



THE POET GHAT. 381 

my wretched matters will let me), and am 
going to write to Mr. Brown about it. You 
are to consider whether you will be able or 
willing to receive us at Aston about a fortnight 
hence ; or whether we are to find you at York, 
where I suppose you to be at present. This 
you will let me know soon ; and if I am dis- 
appointed I will tell you in time. You will 
tell me what to do with your Zumpe,^ which 
has amused me much here. If you would have 
it sent down, I had better commit it to its 
maker, who will tune it and pack it up. Dr. 
Longf has bought the fellow to it. The base is 
not quite of a piece with the treble, and the 
higher notes are somewhat dry and sticky. 
The rest discourses very eloquent music. 

Adieu, dear Sir, I am ever yours, 

T. G. 

Gisborne, Eraser, and Stonhewer often 
inquire after you, with many more. 

* This I presume alludes to the musical instrumeut invented 
by Mason, mentioned in the Walpole and Mason Correspon- 
dence, as the Celestinette. Does Gray call it a Zumpe, from the 
Zampogna, an instrumento pastorale, mentioned by Bonanni in 
his Descrizione degli Instrument! Armonici, 1806, 4to. pp. 85, 
86, figs, xxvii. xxviii.? but that was a wind instrument. 

•(• Dr. Long, the Master of Pembroke College. He had a 
scientific knowledge of music and of musical instruments. 



382 LETTERS OE 

LETTER CVIIL 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 

DEAR SlR 5 Jermyn Street, June 2, 1767. 

Where are you? for I wrote to you last week 
to know how soon we should set out, and how 
we should go. Mason writes to-day, he will 
expect us at Aston in Whitsun-week ; and has 
ordered all his lilacs and roses to be in flower. 
What can you be doing ? And so, as I said, 
shall we go in the Newcastle post-coach or the 
York coach ? Will you choose to come to town 
or be taken up on the way ? Or will you go all 
the way to Bantry in a chaise with me and see 
sights ? Answer me speedily. In return I will 
tell you, that you will soon hear great news ; 
but whether good or bad is hard to say ; there- 
fore I shall prudently tell you nothing more. 
Adieu. 

I am ever yours, T. G. 

Old Pa. is still here, going to Eanelagh and 
the Opera. Lady Strathmore is with child, 
and not very well, as I hear. 



THE POET ORAY. 383 



LETTER CIX. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, Jermyn Street, Saturday, June 6, 1767. 

My intention is (Deo volentej to come to 
Cambridge on Friday or Saturday next; and 
shall expect to set out on Monday following. 
I shall write to Mason by to-night's post, who 
otherwise would expect us all Whitsun-week. 
Pray that the Trent may not intercept us at 
Newark, for we have had infinite rain here, 
and they say every brook sets up for a river. 

I said nothing of Lady M. Lyon,^ because I 
thought you knew she had been long despaired 
of. The family I hear now do not go into 
Scotland till the races are over, nor perhaps 
then, as my lady will be advancing in her preg- 
nancy, and I should not suppose the Peats or 
the Pirth very proper in her condition; but 
women are courageous creatures when they are 
set upon a thing. 

Lord Bute is gone ill into the country with 
an ague in his eye and a bad stomach. Lord 
Holland is alive and well, and has written three 

* Wife of Mr. Lyon. See Letter lxxii. 



384 LETTERS OP 

poems ;* the only linet in which, that I have 
heard, is this : — 

" White-liver'd Grenville and self-loving Gower."J 

Lord Chatham is , and the Bucking- 
ham^ are like the hrooks that I mentioned 

* These lines by Lord Holland are given in the Asylum for 
Fugitive Pieces, vol. ii, p. 9. They are copied into the Selwyn 
Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 162. Lord Holland landed in 
England 23rd May, 1767. 

■j* The poem from which this line is taken, the editor of the 
Selwyn Correspondence tells us (vol. ii. p. 162) was printed on 
a handsome broad sheet, entitled, " Lord Holland's Return 
from Italy, 1 767." In a letter on the 9th of the previous May, 
he alludes to his having made some poetry as he came over 
Mount Cenis. 

J G Grenville's name needs no other memorial than the 
portrait of him by the hand of Burke; see Works, vol. ii. 
p. 388. On Lord Gower, see Rockingham Papers, ii. p. 47; 
Walpole's Misc. Letters, iv. 314. Also Boswell's Johnson, 
vol. ii. p. 50, and a character of him drawn at length in Dr. 
King's Anecdotes of his own Time, p. 45. Lord Holland in 
1770 writes to George Selwyn, " I can't imagine what you 
mean when you speak of joining with me about Lord Gower. 
I do not remember I said anything about where he lived. I 
know I do not love him, and can give good reasons for it." See 
Selwyn Correspondence, ii. 394. See an account of his various 
appointments in ibid. vol. iii. p. 115; born 1721, died 1803. 
Also Walpole's Memoirs of George II. pp. 105, 188; Misc. 
Letters, vi. p. 514. A slight allusion to Mr. Fox's poetry 
occurs in Sir C. H. Williams's Works, vol. ii. p. 241, note. 
See also Nichols's Illustrations, v. p 825. 

§ See on the King commissioning Conway to treat with Lord 



THE POET GRAY. 385 

above. This is all the news that I know. 

Adieu. 

I am ever yours, 

T. G. 

How do you do, good Mr. Brown ? Do your 
inclinations begin to draw northward, as mine 
do, and may I take you a place soon ? I wait 
but for an answer from Mason how to regulate 
our journey, Avhich I should hope may take 
place in a little more than a week. I shall 
write a line again to settle the exact day, but 
you may now tell me whether you will come to 
town, or be taken up at Buckden, or thirdly, 
whether you will go in a chaise with me by 
short journeys, and see places in our way. I 
dined yesterday on Richmond-hill, after seeing 
Chiswick, and Strawberry, and Sion; and be 
assured the face of the country looks an eme- 
rald, if you love jewels. 

The Westminster Theatre is like to come to 
a sudden end. The manager will soon embark 
for Italy without Callista.* The reason is a 
speech, which his success in Lothario embol- 

Rockingham, with no restrictions, &c, Walpole's George III. 
vol. iii. p. 62. Lord Chatham writes that his (Lord Rock- 
ingham's) time being that of Minister — Master of the Court — 
and the public, making offers to men who are seekers of 
office, &c. See Chatham Corr. iii. p. 12 (1766). 

* See on this subject Cavendish's Debates, pp. 596, 603; 

2 c 



386 LETTERS or 

clened him to make the other day in a greater 
theatre. It was on the subject of America, and 
added so much strength to the opposition, that 
they came within six of the majority. He did 
not vote, however, though his two brothers did, 
and, like good boys, with the ministry. For 
this he has been rattled on both sides of his 
ears, and forbid to appear there any more. The 
Houses wait with impatience the conclusion of 
the East India business to rise.* The E. of 
Chatham f is mending slowly in his health, but 
sees nobody on business yet, nor has he since 
he came from Marlborough : yet he goes out 
daily for an airing. 

Adolphus's Hist. i. p. 289 ; Walpole's Misc. Letters, v. 175 
(Dec. 1766) ; and his Letters to Mann, i. p. 345. " This is not 
the only walk of fame he (Duke of York) has lately chosen. 
He is acting plays with Lady Stanhope (wife of Sir Wm. Stan- 
hope) and her family the Delavals. They have several times 
played the Fair Penitent. His Eoyal Highness is Lothario ; 
the lady, I am told, an admirable Callista. They have a pretty 
little theatre at Westminster ; but none of the Royal family have 
been audience," &c. 

* See on this subject Adolphus's Hist. vol. i. p. 299 ; Bel- 
sham, vol. v. p. 241 ; Walpole's Letters to Mann, i. p. 299. 

"f See Adolphus's History, i. p. 299 ; and Hume's Private 
Correspondence, iv. p. 19, June 1767. "We are in great 
confusion because of the strange condition of Lord Chatham, 
who was regarded as our first Minister. The public here as 
well as with you believe him wholly mad, but I am assured it 
is not so; he has only fallen into low spirits," &c. p. 243. 



THE POET GRAY. 387 

I have seen his lordship of Cloyne* often. He 
is very jolly, and we devoured four raspberry - 
puffs together in Cranbourn-alley standing at a 
pastrycook's shop in the street ; but he is gone, 
and Heaven knows when we shall eat any more. 

Rousseauf you see is gone too. I read his 
letter to my Lord Chancellor from Spalding, 
and hear he has written another long one to 
Mr. Conway from Dover, begging he might no 
longer be detained here. He retains his pen- 
sion. The whole seems madness increasing 
upon him. There is a most bitter satire on 
him and his Madlle. le Vasseur, $ written by 
Voltaire, and called Guerre de Geneve. § Adieu, 
and let me hear from you. 

I am ever yours, T. G. 

* Honourable Frederic Hervey. 

f See in the Private Correspondence of David Hume, &c, 
between 1761 and 1776, 4to, a copious account of Eousseau's 
conduct in England; pp. 56, 76, 126, 146, 223. 

\ " Yous voulez que je vous donne des nouvelles de Made- 
moiselle le Vasseur. C'est une bonne et honnete personne, 
digne de l'honneur que vous lui faites. Chaque jour ajoute 
a mon estime pour elle," &c. Eousseau to the Comtesse de 
Boufflers, 1763. The rest of Theresa's history is a singular 
commentary on this letter. In the Memoires de Mons. Girardin, 
the proprietor of Ermenonville, where Eousseau died, is an 
interesting and authentic account of his death, and of Madame 
le Vasseur, " C'etait une mechante femme, qui a cause beau- 
coup de chagrins a Eousseau." See vol. i. p. 19 to p. 37. 

§ La Guerre Civile de Geneve, ou les Amours de Eoberr 

2 c 2 



388 LETTERS or 

How do our Elmsted friends?* Are they 
married yet ? Old Pa. is here, and talks of 
writing soon to you. 



LETTER CX. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR MASON, Jermyn Street, June 6th, 1767. 

We are a-coming, but not so fast as you 
think for, because Mr. Brown cannot think of 
stirring till Whitsun week is over. The Monday 
following we propose to set out in our chaise. 
Do not think of sending Benjamin, I charge 
you. We shall find our way from Bantry very 
cleverly. 

Covelle, poeme heroique, avec des notes instructives, 1768. 
Rousseau is severely handled in this poem, but Voltaire finds 
his apology, according to his Editors, in saying that Rousseau 
had publicly accused him of atheism ; of publishing irreligious 
writings to which he did not put his name, and endeavoured to 
draw persecution on him ; " et que l'accusateur lui-meme avait ■ 
imprime des choses plus hardis que celles qu'il reprochait 
a son ennemi," &c. Rousseau appears in the second canto, and 
in the note to it marked (i), and still more severely in the 
third . 

* This is one of the allusions which, from the length of 
time that has elapsed, it seems hopeless to explain. There 
are two parishes of that name, but no inquiries in them have 
thrown any light on the Elmsted friends. 



THE POET GRAY. 389 

I shall bring with me a. drawing which Stuart 
has made. He approves your sketch highly, 
and therefore, I suppose, has altered it in every 
particular, not at all for the better in my mind. 
He says you should send him an account of the 
place and position, and a scale of the dimen- 
sions. This is what I modestly proposed before, 
but you give no ear to me. The relief in arti- 
ficial stone, he thinks, would come to about 
eight guineas. 

Poor Mr. Eitzherbert* had a second son, who 
was at Caen. He complained of a swelling, and 
some pain, in his knee, which rather increasing 
upon him, his father sent for him over. The 
surgeons agreed it was a white swelling, and he 
must lose his leg. He underwent the operation 
with great fortitude, but died the second day 
after it. Adieu. 

I am ever yours, T. G. 

I rejoice Mr. Woodf is well, and present my 
humble service to him. 

* Thomas Fitzherbert was in the navy, and on board of his 
vessel got a severe crush, and so injured the limb, as to render 
amputation necessary: he was uncle to the present baronet, 
Sir Henry Fitzherbert of Tissington. 

t He died in 1771. Mr. D. Wray, in a letter to Lord 
Hardwicke, says, " I was not acquainted with Mr. Wood, but 
he was thought a little commis, and I know that he was a good 



390 LETTERS or 

LETTER CXI. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Old Park, near Darlington, 

Dear Mason, j u iy 10, 1767. 

We are all impatient to see you in proportion 
to our various interests and inclinations. Old 
Park thinks she must die a maid, if you do not 
come and lay her out. The river Atom weeps 
herself dry, and the Minikin cries aloud for a 
channel. When you can determine on your 
own motions, we pray you to give us immediate 
notice. Soon as you arrive at Darlington you 
will go to the King's Head, where may be had 
two postillions, either of which know the road 
hither. It is about sixteen miles, and runs by 
Kirk Merrington and Spennymoor House 5* a 
little rough, but not bad or dangerous in any 
part. Your aunt, I hope, is well again, and 
little Glough produces a plentiful crop : delay, 
therefore, no longer. 

writer; besides, common humanity has claims on our concern 
ivhen a man is torn away just in sight of an agreeable retreat, 
which his age might promise him the power to enjoy for some 
years," &c. 1771. 

* Old Park, where Gray was staying with his friend Dr. 
Wharton, is a little distant in a northern direction from 
Bishop's Auckland and Merington. 



THE POET GRAY. 391 

Mr. Brown is enchanted and beatified with 
the sight of Durham, whither he went yester- 
day. I performed your commission to Mrs. 
Wilkinson, who expressed herself, I thought, 
like a woman of a good heart, and wished much 
to see you. Adieu : we really long for you. 



LETTER CXIL 
THE REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

DEAR SlR, York, July 15, 1767. 

My old aunt is dead, but she has not left me 
so much money that I can come and make 
ducks and drakes in the Minikin. You will say 
I need not, I have only to teach Dr. "Wharton 
how to make them. Perhaps my metaphor was 
not well chosen; it is, however, as good as 
yours, where you say Old Park must die a maid, 
if I do not come and lay her out. When Mr. 
Hurd comes to publish our Correspondence, I 
know what will be his note upon this passage : 
" To have made the allusion appear with due 
congruity, the poet should have written ' lay her 
down;' for to 'lay her out,' supposes her to be 
already dead, which the premises inform us this 



392 letters or 

old maid was not, and, therefore, only wanted 
to be laid down. As the passage now stands 
there is an impropriety in it, which, however, 
the freedom of the epistolary mode of writing 
will not justify." Take another note from Dr. 
Balguy : " There are two vernacular phrases 
which we apply separately, and which indeed 
will not admit of a reciprocal usage in our 
tongue ; the one we apply constantly where any 
thing is predicated concerning gardening, and 
the other we as constantly use as a term in 
agriculture ; thus we lay out pleasure grounds, 
but we lay down field lands. Now had the 
writer delivered the above sentiment without a 
figure, he would have simply said Old Park 
wants to be laid out ; and here, as Old Park 
means a pleasure ground or garden, the phrase 
would have been just and pertinent; but he 
chose to personify Old Park, and to speak of 
her under the figure of an old maid, and hence 
arose the incongruity which the critic has so 
justly stigmatised, and which would not have 
appeared so had Old Park been a common field; 
but, unhappily for the writer, Old Park was (as 
we have seen) a pleasure ground or garden, and 
as such required to be laid out, not to be laid 
down ; hence it would not admit of the meta- 
phor in question, and I know no way of reducing 



THE POET GRAY. 393 

this passage into the rules of chaste composi- 
tion but by supposing Old Park arable ;. then the 
figure will be in its place, and the maid will 
be laid down in a natural and even elegant 
manner." 

Explicit, nonsense ! and now what remains 
must be serious. I dined lately at Bishop- 
thorpe, when the Archbishop # took me into his 
closet, and, with many tears, begged me to 
write an epitaph on his daughter. In our con- 
versation he touched so many unison strings of 
my heart (for we both of us wept like children) 
that I could not help promising him that I 
would try, if possible, to oblige him. The re- 
sult you have on the opposite page. If it either 
is or can be made a decent thing, assist me 

* Archbishop the Honourable Robert Hay Drunimond, 
translated from Salisbury 1761 ; died December 10, 1777. 
Succeeded by William Wickham, Dean of Christ Church. 
He was brother to Lord Viscount Dupplin, and his eldest son 
succeeded to the earldom of Kinnoul 1777 (?). A favourable 
character is given of him in the Editor's Notes to Walpole's 
Memoirs of George in. vol. i. p. 73. He died in 1776, in his 
66th year In 1803 a volume of Sermons on Public Occa- 
sions by him was printed by Mr. George Drummond, one of 
his sons. In Forbes's Life of Beattie is a Letter from Arch- 
bishop Drummond to Dr. Beattie, September, 1772, offering 
him his assistance in procuring preferment in the English 
Church. 



394 LETTERS OP 

with your judgment immediately, for what I 
do about it I would do quickly, and I can do 
nothing neither, if this will not do with correc- 
tion. It cannot be expected, neither would I 
wish it, to be equal to what I have written 
from my heart upon my heart's heart. Give 
me, I beg, your own sentiments upon it as soon 
as possible. To conclude, I wish heartily to be 
with you, but cannot fix a time, for I was 
obliged to invite Mr. Robinson and the Wads- 
worths hither, and I have not received their 
answer. In my next perhaps I can speak more 
determinately. My best compliments to Dr» 
and Mrs. Wharton, and best wishes for the 
continuance of Mr. Brown's beatifications. 

Yours cordially, 

W. Mason. 

EPITAPH ON MISS DRUMMOND. 

Hence, stoic apathy, to hearts of stone : 

A Christian sage with dignity can weep. 
See mitred Drummond heave the heartfelt groan, 

Where the cold ashes of his daughter sleep. 
Here sleeps what once was beauty, once was grace, 

Grace that express'd, in each benignant smile, 
That dearest harmony of soul and face, 

When beauty glories to be virtue's foil. 



THE POET GRAY. 395 

Or thus, — 

That sweetest sympathy of soul and face, 

When beauty only blooms as virtue's foil. 
Such was the lnaidf that, in the noon of youth, 

In virgin innocence, in nature's pride, 
Grac'd with each liberal art and crown'd with truth, 

Sunk in her father's fond embrace, and died. 
He weeps. O venerate the holy tear ! 

Faith soothes his sorrows, lightens all their load ; 
Patient he spreads his child upon her bier, 

And humbly yields an angel to his God.* 

* See this Epitaph on Miss Drummond, in the Church of 
Bridgnorth, Yorkshire, in Mason's Works, vol. i. p. 138:— 

Here sleeps what once was beauty, once was grace, 

Grace that with tenderness and sense combined, 
To form that harmony of soul and face, 

Where beauty shines the mirror of the mind. 
Such was the maid, that, in the morn of youth, 

In virgin innocence, in nature's pride, 
Blest with each art that owes its charm to truth, 

Sunk in her father's fond embrace and died. 
He weeps. ! venerate the holy tear ! 

Faith lends her aid to ease affliction's load ; 
The parent mourns his child upon its bier, 

The Christian yields an angel to his God. 



396 LETTERS OP 

LETTER CXIIL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON, 
DEAR MASON, Old Park, Sunday, July 19, 1767. 

I come forthwith to the epitaph which you 
have had the charity to write at the Archbishop's 
request. It will certainly do (for it is both 
touching and new), but yet will require much 
finishing. I like not the first three lines : it is 
the party most nearly concerned, at least some 
one closely connected, and bearing a part of the 
loss, that is usually supposed to speak on these 
occasions, but these lines appear to be written 
by the chaplain, and have an air of flattery to 
his patron. All that is good in them is better 
expressed in the four last verses : " where the 
cold ashes," &c. These ^.ve verses are well, 
except the word " benignant," and the thought 
(which is not clear to me, besides that it is 
somewhat hardly expressed) of " when beauty 
only blooms," &c. In gems that want colour 
and perfection, a foil is put under them to add to 
their lustre. In others, as in diamonds, the 
foil is black ; and in this sense, when a pretty 
woman chooses to appear in public with a 
homely one, we say she uses her as a foil. This 
puzzles me, as you neither mean that beauty 
sets off virtue by its contrast and opposition to 



THE POET GRAY. 397 

it, nor that her virtue was so imperfect as to 
stand in need of beauty to heighten its lustre. 
For the rest I read, " that sweetest harmony of 
soul," &c.: "such was the maid," &c. All this 
to the end I much approve, except " crowned 
with truth," and " lightens all their load." The 
first is not precise ; in the latter you say too 
much. " Spreads his child," too, is not the 
word. When you have corrected all these 
faults it will be excellent. 

I thank you for your comments on my inac- 
curate metaphor ; in return, I will be sure to 
show them to the parties who should have 
wrote them, and who doubtless, when they see 
them, will acknowledge them for their own. 
We are all much in want of you, and have 
already put off two journeys, because we thought 
you were to come on Mondays. Pray tell us 
your mind out of hand, lest we lose all our 
future Mondays. Mr. Brown has not above 
another week to stay with us (for Lord Strath- 
more comes on the 27th out of Scotland), and 
must go into the third heaven to see nothing 
at all — all — all. # Adieu ! 

I am truly yours, T. G. 

No news of Palgrave. 

* John ninth Earl of Strathmore married 1767 the great 



398 LETTERS OF 

LETTER CXIV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Old Park, 26th July, 1767. 

You are very perverse. I do desire you 
would not think of dropping the design you 
had of obliging the Archbishop. I submitted 
my criticisms to your own conscience, and I 
allowed the latter half to be excellent, two or 
three little words excepted. If this will not 
do, for the future I must say (whatever you 
send me) that the whole is the most perfect 
thing in nature, which is easy to do when one 
knows it will be acceptable. Seriously, I should 
be sorry if you did not correct these lines, and 
am interested enough for the party (only upon 
your narrative) to wish he were satisfied in it, 
for I am edified when I hear of so mundane a 
man, that yet he has a tear for pity. 

By the way, I ventured to show the other 
epitaph to Dr. Wharton, and sent him brim-full 
into the next room to cry. I believe he did not 
hear it quite through, nor has he ever asked to 
hear it again ; and now will you not come and 
see him ? 

Durham heiress, daughter of George Bowes, Esq. of Streatlam 
Castle. This earl died April 1776. 



THE POET GEAY. 399 

We are just come back from a little journey 
to Barnard Castle,* Bokeby,f and .Richmond 
(Mr. Brown and all). Some thoughts we have 
of going for two or three days to Hartlepool ; 
then we (Dr. W. and I) talk of seeing West- 
moreland and Cumberland, and perhaps the 
west of Yorkshire ; the mountains I mean, for 
we despise the plains. Then at our return I 
write to you, not to show my talent at descrip- 
tion, but to ask again whether you will come 
or no. Adieu. I wish you health and peace 
of mind ; and am ever yours, 

T. G. 



* This castle is in Durham, and is the property of the 
Duke of Cleveland. 

f The well-known seat of Mr. Morris, situated near the 
junction of the Tees and the Greta. It is the place whence 
the ancient family of Eokeby derived their name. It was 
bought of the Eokeby s, in the reign of Elizabeth, by one of 
the family of Eobinson. A younger son of this family, 
Eichard, died Archbishop of Armagh 1794; created Baron 
Eokeby of Armagh 1777- The estate was sold by the Eobin- 
sons to Mr. Morritt, father of the well-known J. B. Morritt, 
the friend of Sir Walter Scott, and to whom the poem of 
Eokeby was inscribed. His dissertation on the subject of 
the Troad against the theory of Jacob Bryant, is well known. 
" You have no connexions at Eokeby ; if you had, Mason is 
adored tJiere, and would, on account of fame, be a most proper 
patron." Letter of Eev. D. Watson, 1788, in Nichols's Lite- 
rary Anecdotes. 



400 LETTERS OE 

Mr. Brown and the Dr. desire their compli- 
ments to Mr. Robinson.* 



LETTER CXV. 
MASON TO GRAY. 



Dear Mr. Gray, York, July 27, 1767. 

In hopes this may catch you before you set 
off for Hartlepool, I answer yours the moment 
I receive it (minster vespers only intervening). 
The dean has disappointed me, and is not yet 
arrived. The Robinsons I expect every hour ; 
in the meanwhile, I will resume the subject of 
the epitaph. 

Had you given me any hint, any lueur, how 
the three first lines might have been altered, it 
would have been charitable indeed; but you 
say nothing, only that I must alter them. Now 
in my conscience, to which you appeal, I cannot 
find fault with the sentiment which they con- 
tain; and yet, in despite of my conscience, if I 

* Probably Mr. William Robinson, brother of Sir Thonias 
Robinson, proprietor of Rokeby, who died in 1777, who was 
some time Governor of Barbados, created a Baronet in 1730. 
He built the present house at Rokeby. Another brother, 
Richard, was at this period an Irish bishop. Sir Thomas 
Robinson sold Rokeby to the Morritt family about 1770. 



THE POET GRAY. 401 

thought that they implied the least shadow of 
flattery to the Archbishop, I would wipe them 
out with a sponge dipped in the mud of the 
kennel. But I cannot think they do. I think, 
on the contrary, they give the composition that 
unity of thought which ought always to run 
through compositions of this kind ; for in my 
mind a perfect epitaph is a perfect epigram 
without a sting. N.B. This sentence in our 
Epistolse familiares cum notis variorum, will he 
explained in a note of Dr. Balguy's, to the 
contentation of every reader ; in the meantime, 
if you do not understand it yourself, console 
yourself with the pleasing idea that posterity 
will, and that is enough in reason. 

However, to show you my complacency, and 
in dread that you should ever do as you threaten, 
and call whatever I send you the most perfect 
things in nature, I will sacrifice the first stanza 
on your critical altar, and let it consume either 
in flame or smudge as it choose. Then we 
begin, "here sleeps," a very poetical sort of ci 
git, or " here lies," and which I hope will not 
lead the reader to imagine a sentence lost. 

1. Here sleeps what once was beauty, once was grace, 

2. Grace that with native sentiment combined 

3. To form that harmony of soul and face, 

4. Where beauty shines the mirror of the mind. 

2d 



402 LETTERS OF 

5. Such was the maid, that, in the noon of youth, 

6. In virgin innocence, in nature's pride, 

7. Blest with each art that taste supplies or truth, 

8. Sunk in her father's fond embrace and died. 

9. He weeps. O ! venerate the holy tear; 

10. Faith lends her aid to ease affliction's load: 

11. The parent mourns his child upon her bier, 

12. The Christian yields an angel to his God. 

Various sections, pick and choose. 

2 . " Inborn sentiment. ' ' 

3. " Displayed (or diffused) that harmony," 
&c. 

7. " That springs from taste or truth ;" " de- 
rived from taste or truth;" "that charms 
with taste and truth." But, after all, I do not 
know that she was a metaphysician, "blest 
with each art that owes its charms to truth," 
which painting does, as well as logic and meta- 
physics. 

10. " Faith lends her lenient aid to sorrow's 
load;" " Faith lends her aid, and eases (or 
lightens) sorrow's load." 

11. " Pensive he mourns," or "he views " 
or " gives." 

12. "Yet humbly yields," or "but humbly." 
Now if from all this you can pick out twelve 

ostensible lines, do, and I will father them ; or 
if you will out of that lukewarm corner of your 



THE POET GRAY. 403 

heart where you hoard up your poetical charity 
throw out a poor mite to my distresses, I shall 
take it kind indeed; but, if not, stat prior 
sententia, for I will give myself no further 
trouble about it ; I cannot in this uncomfort- 
able place, where my opus magnum sive didac- 
ticum has not advanced ten lines since I saw 
you. 

God bless Dr. Wharton, and send him (for 
sympathy) never to feel what I feel. I will 
come to him the moment I can. Write, be 
sure, when you return from your longer tour ; 
but I hope to have an answer to this before 
you set out, because I shall not give the 
Archbishop any determinate answer about the 
matter till I hear again from you. The Robin- 
sons are just arrived. Adieu. 

W. M. 

I must needs tell you, as an instance of my 
enjoyments here, that yesterday Mr. Comber * 
preached again, and dined with me, and in 

* Probably William Comber, M.A. Vicar of Kirkby- Moor- 
side, Yorkshire, second son of Thomas, LL.D. of Buckworth, 
Huntingdon, who published, in 1778, the Memoirs of the 
Lord Deputy Wandesford, 12mo. The present person was, 
therefore, grandson of Thomas Comber, D.D. Dean of Durham, 
of whom a life was published by his great-grandson, Thomas 
Comber, A,B. of Jesus' College, Cambridge. 

2d 2 



404 LETTERS OF 

the afternoon who but Billy Hervey should 
preach and drink tea with me. The said Billy 
inquired most cordially after you, and has got 
your directions how to come at you by Kirk- 
something and Spennymoor House, for he is 
going into Scotland with a Scotch captain ten 
times duller than himself. You will have them 
at Old Park almost as soon as this, if you do 
not run away. 

Anecdote. — The country folks are firmly per- 
suaded that the storm (which made us get up 
here) was raised by the devil, out of revenge to 
Comber for preaching at him the day before in 
the Minster. 



LETTER CXVL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Old Park, 9 Aug. 1767 ; Sunday. 

I have been at Hartlepool like anything, and 
since that, visiting about (which is the sum of 
all my country expeditions), so that I was not 
able to write to you sooner. To-rnorrow I go 
vizzing to Gibside to see the new married 



THE POET GRAY. 405 

countess,* whom (bless my eyes ! ) I have seen 
here already. There I drop our beatified 
friend, who goes into Scotland with them, and 
return hither all alone. Soon after I hope to 
go into Cumberland, &c, and when that is 
over shall let you know. 

I exceedingly approve the epitaph in its pre- 
sent shape. Even what I best liked before is 
altered for the better. The various readings I 
do not mind, only, perhaps, I should read the 
2nd line : 

Grace that with tenderness and sense combined, 
To form, &c. 

for I hate "sentiment" in verse. I will say 
nothing to "taste" and " truth," for perhaps the 
Archbishop may fancy they are fine things ; but, 
io my palate, they are wormwood. All the 
rest is just as it should be, and what he ought 
to admire. 

Billy Hervey t went directly to Durham, and 
called not here. He danced at the Assembly 
with a conquering mien, and all the misses 
swear he is the genteelest thing they ever 

* Lady Strathmore. Gibside is a seat of Lord Strathmore's, 
in Durham, not far from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and near to 
Eavensworth Castle. 

| Frederic William Hervey, Bishop of Cloyne. 



406 LETTERS or 

set eyes on, and wants nothing but two feet 

more in height. The Doctor and Mr. Brown 

send their blessing ; and 

I am ever yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER CXVII. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, Old Park, Sep. 11, 1767. 

I admire you as the pink of perversity. 
How did I know about York races, and how 
could I be more explicit about our journey?* 
The truth is, I was only too explicit by half, 
for we did not set out in earnest till the 29th 
of August, being delayed, partly by the bad 
weather, and partly by your cousin, my Lord 
Perrot, and his assizes, whose train we were 
afraid to overtake, and still more afraid of 
being overtaken by it. At last then we 
went in the sun and dust broiling to New- 
castle, and so by the military road to Hexham 
at night, where it began to rain, and continued 
like fury, with very short intervals, all the rest 

* Gray passed all the latter part of this summer in the 
North of England, with his friends Mr. Brown and Dr. Whar- 
ton. See Works, vol. iv. p. 98. 



THE POET GRAY. 407 

of our way. So we got to Carlisle, passed a 
day there in raining and seeing delights. 
Next day got to Penrith — more delights ; the 
next dined and lay at Keswick ; could not go a 
mile to see anything. Dr. Wharton taken ill 
in the night with an asthma. Went on, how- 
ever, over stupendous hills to Cockermouth. 
Here the Doctor grew still worse in the night, 
so we came peppering and raining back through 
Keswick to Penrith. Next day lay at Brough, 
grew better, raining still, and so over Stone- 
moor home. Sep. 5th. — In a heavy thunder- 
shower. Now you will think from this 
detail, which is literally true, that we had 
better have staid at home. No such thing ; I 
am charmed with my journey, and the Doctor 
dreams of nothing but Skiddaw, and both of us 
vow to go again the first opportunity. I car- 
ried Mr. Brown to Gib side the 11th of August, 
and took a receipt for him ; they did not set 
out for Scotland till the 1st of September, and 
as yet I have not heard from him. 

If you are not too much afflicted for the loss 
of Charles Townshencl,* now is your time to 

* On Charles Townshend's death, see Cavendish Debates, 
vol. i. p. 608. He died Sept. 4, 1767, aged 42. Horace 
Walpole writes to General Conway, " As a man of incom- 
parable parts and most entertaining to a spectator I -regret his 



408 LETTERS OF 

come and see us. In spite of your coquetry, 
we still wish of all things to see you, and 
(bating that vice, and a few more little faults) 
have a good opinion of you, only we are afraid 
you have a bad heart. I have known purse- 
proud people often complain of their poverty, 
which is meant as an insult upon the real poor. 
How dare you practise this upon me ? Do not I 
know little Clough ? Here is a fuss indeed 
about a poor three-score miles. Don't I go gal- 
loping five hundred, whenever I please ? Have 
done with your tricks, and come to Old Park, 
for the peaches and grapes send forth a good 
smell, and the voice of the robin is heard in 
our land. My services to Mr. Alder son, # for he 
is a good creature. JSut I forget, you are at 
York again. Adieu ! I am, ever yours, 

T. G. 
The Doctor presents his compliments to you 

death. His good humour prevented one from hating him, 
and his levity from loving him ; but in a political light I own 
I cannot look on it as a misfortune." vol. v. p. 181. See also 
his opinion at more length in his Memoirs of George III. 
vol. ii. pp. 9 and 275; vol. iii. pp. 23, 29, 99, 102. See also 
Lady Hervey's Letters, p. 325; Belsham's History, v. 278; 
Adolphus's History, i. p. 304 ; and especially Burke's Works, 
ii. p. 422. 

* The Eev. Christopher Alderson, then curate to Mr. Mason, 
subsequently Eector of Aston and Eckington. 



THE POET GRAY. 409 

with great cordiality, and desires your assist- 
ance. One of his daughters has some turn for 
drawing, and he would wish her a little in- 
structed in the practice. If you have any pro- 
fessor of the art at York, that would think it 
worth his while to pass about six weeks here, 
he would be glad to receive him. His con- 
ditions he would learn from you. If he have 
any merit in his art, doubtless so much the 
better. But above all he must be elderly, and 
if ugly and ill-made so much the more accept- 
able. The reasons we leave to your prudence. 



LETTER CXVIII. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, York, Sat. 31 Oct. 1767. 

I have received a letter from Howe ; another 
from Mr. Beattie;* and a third, which was 
a printed catalogue, from London. The parcel 

* There is a letter from Dr. Beattie to Gray, dated 30th 
August, 1765, when Gray was on a visit at Glamis Castle, 
in Forbes's Life of Beattie, vol. i. p. 89 ; another in Foulis's 
Edition of Gray. See pp. 145, 155. Gray's Letter on the 
Minstrel is to be found, vol. i. pp. 254-261. I possess a few 
very interesting Letters from Dr. Beattie to Mason, giving an 
account of his Conversations with Mr. Gray, when the latter 



410 LETTERS OF 

sent to Cambridge was a set of Algarotti's 
works for your library, which need not be im- 
patient if it remain unopened till I come. 
The Doctor and I came hither on Saturday 
last. He returned on Wednesday, and I set 
out for London (pray for me), at ten o'clock 
to-morrow night. You will please to direct to 
me at Roberts's, as usual, and when it is con- 
venient I shall be glad of my bill. I will 
trouble you also to give notice of my motions 
to Miss Antrobus as soon as you can. 

Here has been Lord Holdernesse's ugly face 
since I was here, and here actually is Mr. 
Weddell,* who inquires after you. Pa. is in 
London with his brother, f who is desperate. If 
he dies, we shall not be a shilling the better, 

was in Scotland, dated from Aberdeen. See also Forbes's 
Life, vol. i. p. 95. 

* Mr.Weddell, of Newby, who made the collection of statues, 
since belonging to Lord de Grey, collected during his travels 
in Italy with Mr. Palgrave 

| Mr. Palgrave's elder brother here alluded to took the 
name of Sayer, and married Miss Tyrell of Gipping, after- 
wards Lady Mary Heselrigge. The Palgrave family, con- 
nected by marriage with the Burtons of Staffordshire (of 
which was the celebrated author of the Anatomy of Melan- 
choly), and afterwards of Leicestershire and Derbyshire, settled 
at Homer sfield and Aldersea Park, and also with the Foun- 
taynes of Narford, Norfolk, and with the Lawsons of Borough- 
bridge, Yorkshire. 



THE POET GRAY. 411 

so we are really very sorrowful. Mason de- 
sires his love to you. Adieu, the Minster bell 
rings. I am ever yours, T. G. 

I rejoice greatly at N's good luck. 



LETTER CXIX. 
TO THE REV, WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR MASON, Penib. Coll. 8 Jan. 1768. 

I did not write to you — that's to be sure ; 
but then, consider, I had the gout great part 
of the time that I passed in town, and ever 
since I came hither I have been confined to 
my room ; and besides, you know, you were at 
Aston, and did not much care. As to Mon- 
sieur de la Harpe,* he is not to be had at any 
of the shops, and, they say, never was in 

* The well-known writer, Jean Francois de la Harpe, born 
1739, died 1803. Up to the period of Grays Letter, 1768, 
he had distinguished himself chiefly as a dramatic writer, the 
author of Tragedie de Warwick, Timoleon, Pharamond, Gus- 
tavus Vasa, &c. in 1776 ; after that he entered into what is 
called " La carriere des concours academiques." His Literary 
Correspondence with the Emperor Paul was printed in 1801 , in 
four volumes, and perhaps is the most interesting of his works 
at the present day. A portrait of him is sketched in lively, 
yet fair colours, in Chateaubriand, Memoires d'outre Tombe, 
vol. i. p. 175. 



412 LETTERS OF 

England. What I saw and liked of his must 
have been in some bibliotheque or journal that 
I had borrowed. 

Here are, or have been, or will be, all your 
old and new friends in constant expectation of 
you at Cambridge ; yet Christmas is past, and 
no Scroddles appears. 

Weddell attends your call, and Palgrave proud, 

, and Delaval the loud.* 

For thee does Powell f squeeze, and Marriot J sputter, 
And Glyn § cut phizzes, and Tom Neville stutter. 
Brown sees thee sitting on his nose's tip, 
The Widow feels thee in her aching hip. 
For thee fat Nanny sighs, and handy Nelly, 
And Balguy || with a bishop in his belly. 



* See Letter cxxxvu. " Delaval is by no means well, and 
looks sadly, yet he goes about and talks as loud as ever." 

f On Powell, see p. 322. 

X Sir James Marriot, Knt. Master of Trinity Hall, 1764. 
He is mentioned in Gray's Letters to Nicholls at pp. 60, 65, 
67, 82. He continued Master for nearly forty years, and was 
succeeded by Sir William Wynne, Knt. There are some 
verses by him in Dodsley's Collection, iv. p. 285, and several 
small poems in Bell's Fugitive Poetry. See also Nichols's 
Illustrations of Literature, vol. i. p. 134. Neville has been 
mentioned. 

§ Dr. Glynn was Gray's physician at Cambridge, and also 
a very intimate friend. He was " The lov'd lapis on the 
banks of Cam." 

|| It is well known that Dr. Balguy refused a Bishoprick. 



THE POET GRAY. 413 

It is true of the two archdeacons. The latter 
is now here, hut goes on Monday. The former 
conies to take his degree in February. The 
rector writes to ask whether you are come, 
that he may do the same. As to Johnny, here 
he is, divided between the thoughts of * * 
* * and marriage. Delaval only waits for a 
little intreaty. The master, the doctor, the 
poet, and the president, are very pressing and 
warm, hut none so warm as the coffee-house 
and I. Come then away. This is no season 
for planting, and Lord Richard* will grow as 
well without your cultivation as with it ; at 
least let us know what we are to hope for, and 
when, if it be only for the satisfaction of the 
methodist singing-man your landlord. 

You will finish your opus magnum here so 
clever, and your series of historical tragedies, 
with your books (that nobody reads) all round 

* See Gray's Letter to Nicholls, p. 82 (Correspondence). 
" Lord Eichard Cavendish is come. He is a sensible boy, 
awkward and bashful beyond all imagination, and eats a 
buttock of beef at a meal. I have made him my visit, and 
did tolerably well considering. Watson is his public tutor, 
and one Winstanley his private." He was born 1751, and 
died at Naples September 1781, where he went for the re- 
covery of his health. In 1780 he was chosen Member for 
Derby. 



414 LETTERS OF 

you ; and your critic at hand, who never cares 
a farthing, that I must say for him, whether 
you follow his opinions or not ; and your hyper- 
critics, that nohody, not even themselves, un- 
derstands, though you think you do. I am 
sorry to tell you Saint John's Garden is quite 
at a stand ; perhaps you in person may set it 
going. If not, here is Mr. Brown's little 
garden cries aloud to be laid out (it is in a 
wretched state, to be sure, and without any 
taste). You shall have unlimited authority 
over it, # and I will take upon me the whole ex- 
pense. Will you not come ? I know you will. 
Adieu, I am ever yours, T. G. 

* Mason says in his Memoirs, that Gray never professed 
any knowledge of or skill in lajdng out gardens ; but the 
Author of The English Garden prided himself on his talent in 
this respect. He laid out the flower-garden at Nuneham, 
Mr. Kurd's at Thurcaston, and others, " I once," says Mr. 
Cradock, " called on Mr. Hurd, at Thurcaston, and he said to 
me, ' I wish you had come sooner, for Mason has just left me : 
he is going to Aston. I think you must have passed him in 
the gateway. He got up very early this morning to plant 
those roses opposite, and otherwise decorate my grounds. He 
boasts that he knows exactly where every rose ought to be 
planted.' " See Cradock's Memoirs, iv. p. 194. Gray's opinion 
was very unfavourable to the publication of Mason's English 
Garden ; his friend Dr. Burgh did all he could in his excellent 
Commentary to redeem it. It has, however, been favourably 
received in France, and translated. 



THE POET GRAY. 415 

LETTER CXX. 
TO THE EEV. JAMES BROWN. 

DEAR SlR, Southampton Row, April 27, 1768. 

By this time, I conclude, you are returned 
to Cambridge, though I thought it a long time 
before I heard of you from Thrandeston,* and 
could have wished you had stayed longer with 
Palgrave. Perhaps you are in Hertfordshire ; 
however, I write at a venture. I went to Mr. 
Mann's,! and, though he is in town, not finding 
him at home, left a note with an account of 
my business with him, and my direction. I 
have had no message in answer to it. So, pos- 
sibly, he has written to you, and sent the 
papers. I know not. 

Mr. Precentor is still here, and not in haste 
to depart. Indeed, I do not know whether he 
has not a fit of the gout. It is certain he had 
a pain yesterday in his foot, but whether 
owing to bechamel and claret, or to cutting a 
corn, was not determined. He is still at 
Stonhewer's house, and has not made his jour- 

* Thrandeston, in Suffolk, one of Mr. Palgrave's livings, 
near to Botesdale and Diss, and joining Palgrave. 

| Probably the brother of Sir Horace Mann. Two of the 
brothers were clothiers to the Army. 



416 LETTERS OF 

ney to Eton and to Bath yet, though he 
intends to do it. 

We have had no mobs nor illuminations yet, 
since I was here. Wilkes's speech you have 
seen. The Court was so surprised at being 
contemned to its face, and in the face of the 
world, that the chief in a manner forgot the 
matter in hand, and entered into an apology 
for his own past conduct, and so, with the rest 
of the assessors, shuffled the matter off, and 
left the danger to the officers of the Crown, 
that is, indeed, to the ministry.^ Nobody had 
ventured, or would venture to serve the capias 
upon him. I cannot assure it is done yet, 
though yesterday I heard it was ; if so, he comes 
again to-day into Court. He professes himself 
ready to make any submissions to the King,f 
but not to give up his pursuit of Lord H.J 

* See Walpole's Memoirs of George III. vol, iii. ch. vii. p. 
182, for a good account of these transactions, and Adolphus's 
Hist. vol. i. chap, xv.; Letters to Mann, i. p. 394. 

f Wilkes wrote a letter to the King. See Walpole's 
George III. vol. iii. p. 182. It was delivered at the palace 
by Wilkes's footman, and returned in the same way. It is 
printed in the third volume of Almon's Life of Wilkes. 

\ Lord Halifax, "a statesman" (says Lord Mahon, Hist v. 
p. 183) " of some reputation, but who impaired his constitution 
by drinking, and his fortune by neglect." He had the ill luck 
to be Secretary of State at that time. See Walpole's George III. 



THE POET GRAY. 417 

The Delavals* attend very regularly, and take 
notes of all that passes. His writ of error on 
the outlawry must conie to a decision before 
the House of Lords. 

I was not among the coalheaversf at Shad- 
well, though seven people lost their lives in the 
fray. Nor was I in Goodman's Fields when 
the brothel was demolished. The ministry, I 
believe, are but ticklish in their situation. 
They talk of Grenville and his brother J again. 
Lord forbid ! it must be dreadful necessity in- 
deed that brings them back. 

Adieu. I am ever yours, 

T. G. 

If you are at Cambridge, pray let me know. 

vol. iii. p. 230. " After term time, Wilkes published a violent 
and vile speech against Lord Halifax. Lord Halifax stood in 
a weak predicament, as it depended on a jury to give what 
damages they should please against the Earl. No limits were 
set to them by law, nor could King or Parliament remit the 
fine," &c. See Lord Chesterfield's Works, iv. 294, for a favour- 
able character of Lord Halifax, and Belsham's History, vol. v. 
p. 354. He died in 1771. 

* The Delaval family took a strong party on politics. See 
the Grenville Papers, vol. ii. pp. 144-149, as instances. 

f On the riot of the coalheavers, see Walpole's History of 
George III. vol. iii. p. 219. 

| George Grenville and Lord Temple. 



2 E 



418 LETTERS OE 

LETTER CXXI. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, 1st. August, [1768.] 

Where you are, I know not, but before this 
can reach you I guess you will be in residence. 
It is only to tell you that I profess Modern 
History and languages in a little shop of mine 
at Cambridge, if you will recommend me any 
customers. On Sunday Brocket died of a fall 
from his horse, drunk, I believe, as some say, 
returning from Hinchinbroke. # On Wednesday 
the Duke of Grafton wrote me a very hand- 
some letter to say that the King offered the 
vacant place to me, with many more speeches 
too honourable for me to transcribe. On Friday, 
at the levee, I kissed his Majesty's hand. f What 

* Hinchinbroke, the seat of Lord Sandwich, in Huntingdon- 
shire. See description of it by Horace Walpole, in Misc. 
Lett. v. p. 283. 

•f See Gray's Works, vol. iv. p. 123, and at p. 127 his 
letter to Dr. Bentham of 31st October. Mr. Cole says, " I 
believe Mr. Stonhewer, the Duke of Grafton's secretary and 
Mr Gray's friend, was the first man in this affair " Cole's MS. 
Notes on Gray. Horace Walpole tells T. Warton, " Mr. Ston- 
hewer is a great favourite with the Duke of Grafton, and the 
person who recommended Mr. Gray ; he is a very worthy 
man," &c. See Wooll's Life of Dr. J. Warton, p. 336. Sir Egerton 



THE POET GRAY. 119 

he said I will not tell you, because everybodv 
that has been at court tells what the King said 
to them. It was very gracious, however. Re- 
member you are to say that the Cabinet Coun- 
cil all approved of the nomination in a parti- 
cular manner. It is hinted to me that I 
should say this publicly, and I have been at 
their several doors to thank them. Now I 
have told you all the exterior ; the rest, the 
most essential, you can easily guess, and how 
it came about. Now are you glad or sorry, 
pray ? Adieu. Yours ever, 

T. G., P. M. H. and L.* 

Brydges informed me, " That when Gray went to court to kiss 
the King's hand for his place, he felt a mixture of shyness and 
pride which he expressed to some of his intimate friends in 
terms of strong ill humour." See Gray's Works, ed. Aid. i. 
p. ciii. Yet he could not say with Swift — 

" What if for nothing once you kiss'd, 
Against the grain, a monarch's fist." 

* Thomas Gray, Professor of Modern History and Letters. 



2 e 2 



420 LETTERS OP 

LETTER CXXII. 
MASON TO GRAY. 

Dear Mr. Professor, ° rn &th T768. "^ 

I will not congratulate you, for I would not 
have you think I am glad, and I take for 
granted you do not think I am, or at least would 
not have me so to be, else you would have 
given me a line ; but no matter. I went the 
other day to Old Park, and read what you had 
written to the Doctor, and he was not so glad 
neither as to hinder him from making water, 
which he did all the time I was with him, and 
continues still to do so, and thinks he shall not 
give over for some months. Do not be afraid, the 
discharge does not come from his vesicatory, 
but his pecuniary ducts, and I, as physician, 
and Summers, as apothecary, hold it to be a 
most salutary diabetes. 

I have my good luck too, I can tell you, for 
when I was at Hull I met with a Homan 
ossuary of exquisite sculpture. How I came 
by it no matter ; it is enough that I am pos- 
sessed of it. I send you the inscription, which 
your brother Lort,* of Halifax, may, perhaps, 

* Gray, in a letter to Miss Antrobus, 29th July, 1768, 



THE POET GRAY. 421 

help me to construe, for as to yourself I take 
for granted that all your skill in the learned 
languages transpired in the kiss which you 
gave his Majesty's little finger, and you rose 
up a mere modern scholar, with nothing left 
hut a little Linngean jargon. Be this as it may, 
here is the inscription literatim : 

PONPONIA PELMI 
GENIAE 
T PONPONIO PELICI 
P. ET P. PA. 

The first three lines I read, " Pomponia primi- 
geniae Tito Pomponio Pelici ; " but as to the 
rest it is all Hebrew Greek to me. Seriously, 
if you can make it out for me, I shall be 
obliged to you. 

I go to York on Thursday, but I mean to 

speaking of his Professorship, says, " The only people who 
asked for it are Lort, Marriott, Delaval, Tebb, and Peck; at 
least I have heard of no more. . . . Lort is a worthy 
man, and I wish he could have it, or something as good. The 
rest are nothing." See Works, iv. p. 123. " Lort," says 
Professor Smyth (in a MS. letter to me,) " was a scholar and 
antiquary, afterwards chaplain to the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, rector of Fulham, and Prebendary of St. Paul's. He died 
from the effects produced by an overturn of his carriage. 
See Nichols's Anecdotes, vii, 237, 618, and Lit. Illustrations, 
vii. 438, where is a portrait of him. Boswell says, " Multis 
ille bonis flebilis occidit." 



422 LETTERS OF 

call in my way on Mr. Weddell and Proud Pal - 
grave # on Wednesday. Remember me kindly 
to your brother, Mr. Professor Shepherd,! and 
the successor of Mr. Professor Mickleborough ; { 
and believe me to be, dear Mr. Professor, 

Yours most truly and sincerely, 

W. Mason. 



LETTER CXXIII. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Pembroke College, Sept. 7, 1768. 

What can I say more to you about Odding- 
ton ?§ You seem engaged to Mr. Wood, and 
in consequence of that to Mr. Meller. Mr. 
Brown is not here, and if he were I could by 

* In Lord Harcourt's MS. Correspondence with Mason he 
is called " Le petit Palgrave." 

f A. Shepherd, A.M. of Christ's College, Professor of Astro- 
nomy and Experimental Philosophy in 1760. He was suc- 
ceeded in 1796 by Mr. Yince. 

J T. Mickleburgh, A.M. of Corpus Christi College, Professor 
of Chemistry in 1718. His successor was T. Hardy, M.A of 
Queen's, in 1756, He was succeeded by Dr. Watson, after- 
wards Bishop of LlandafF. 

§ Rectory in Gloucestershire, a living in the gift of Mason, 
as the Precentor of York. 



THE POET GRAY. 423 

no means consult him about it. His view to 
the mastership will be affected by it just in the 
same manner as if he had accepted of Eram- 
lingharu* and had it in possession, which I little 
doubt he would accept if it were vacant and 
undisputed. As to the dubious title, he told 
me of it himself, and I was surprised at it as a 
thing quite new to me. This is all I know ; 
nor (if you were under no previous engage- 
ments) could I direct or determine your choice. 
It ought to be entirely your own ; as to accept 
or refuse ought to be entirely his. The only 
reason I have suggested anything about it is, 
that (when we first talked on this subject) you 
asked me whether Mr. Brown would have it ; 
and I replied, it would hardly be worth his 
while, as Frarnlingham was of greater value ; in 
which, all things considered, I may be mis- 
taken. 

I give you joy of your vase; I cannot find 
P. et P. PA. in my Sertorius Ursatus, and 
consequently do not know their meaning. 
What shall I do ? My learned brethren are 
dispersed over the face of the earth. I have 
lately dug up three small vases, in workman- 

* Framlingham, a market town in Suffolk. The rectory is 
in the gift of Pembroke College. Its castle is well known to 
antiquaries, and the monument of Lord Surrey, in the church, 
to poets. 



424 LETTERS OF 

ship at least equal to yours ; they were disco- 
vered at a place called Burslem in Stafford- 
shire, and are very little impaired by time. 
On the larger one is this inscription very 
legibly, £•; and on the two smaller thus, |% 
You will oblige me with an explanation, for 
Ursatus here too leaves us in the dark. 

I fear the King of Denmark* could not stay 
till your hair was dressed. He is a genteel 
lively figure, not made by nature for a fool ; 
but surrounded by a pack of knaves, whose 
interest it is to make him one if they can. He 
has overset poor Dr. Marriot's head here, who 
raves of nothing else from morning till night. f 

Pray make my best compliments to your 
brother-residentiary Mr. Cowper, and thank 

* Christian the Seventh, who married Caroline Matilda, the 
posthumous child of Frederic Prince of Wales; she died at 
Zell, 1775. See account of her in Walpole's Miscellaneous 
Letters, vol. iv. p. 329; v. 215-217. Walpole's Letters to 
Mann, i. p. 399; ii. p. 2. Memoirs of George III. ii. p. 257; 
iii. p. 235; iv. pp. 163,280. Selwyn Correspondence, ii. 
pp. 326, 341. Lord Mahon's History, v p. 463. Belsham's 
History, vi p. 232. Cavendish Debates, vol. i. pp. 283, 612. 
See also Wraxall's Memoirs of the Courts of Berlin, Dresden, 
&c. vol. i. p ; 47, &c. 

| See Gray's Letter to Nicholls, W r orks, v. p. 80. " His 
Danish Majesty has had a diarrhaea, so could not partake of 
Dr. Marriotts collation ; if he goes thither at all, I will contrive 
not to be present at the time." 



THE POET GRAY. 425 

him for his obliging letter of congratulation, 
which I did not at all expect. Present also 
my respects and acknowledgements to Miss 
Polly. Mr. Bedingfield I shall answer soon, 
both as to his civilities and his reproaches ; the 
latter you might have prevented by telling him 
that I gave my works to nobody, as it was only 
a new edition. Adieu ; write to me. 

I am ever yours, T. G. 



LETTER CXXIV. 
GRAY TO MASON. 



29th December, 1768. 

Oh, wicked Scroddles ! There have you 
gone and told my arcanum arcanorum* to that 

* This arcanum arcanorum must, I think, be an allusion 
to the lines written by Gray, in 1766, on Lord Holland's seat 
at Kingsgate. See Gray's Poems, vol. i. p- 161, ed. Aid. 
Walpole says, on these lines, "I am very sorry that he ever 
wrote them and ever gave a copy of them. You may be sure 
I did not recommend their being jrrinted in his works, nor were 
they." See Letters to Lady Ossory, ii. 193, and Miscel- 
laneous Correspondence, ii. 574, and Letters to Mason, i. p. 109. 
The lines were written at Denton, in Kent, when on a visit to 
Rev. William Robinson, and found in a drawer of Gray's room, 
after his departure. They are given with the variations of 
the MSS. in the Aldine edition, vol. i. p. 161. They were 
printed in the Gent. Mag. and afterwards in Nichols's Select 
Poems, vol. vii. p. 350, before they appeared in his works. 



426 LETTERS OF 

leaky mortal Palgrave, who never conceals any 
thing he is trusted with; and there have I been 
forced to write to him, and (to bribe him to 
silence) have told him how much I confided in 
his taciturnity, and twenty lies beside, the guilt 
of which must fall on you at the last account. 
Seriously, you have done very wrong. Surely 
you do not remember the imprudence of Dr. G., # 
who is well known to that rogue in Piccadilly, 
and who at any time may be denounced to the 

"Foxium patrem," says Mr. W. S. Landor, "satira perstrinxit 
Grains acerrima, in quo genere vidi ejus alia summi acuminis." 
Landor, de Cultu Latini Sernionis, p. 196. Of these lines it 
must indeed be said, they were "satira acerrima." 

The following jeux cPesprits by Gray were once in the pos- 
session of Mason, but were probably destroyed by him : — 

1. Duke of Newcastle's journal going to Hanover. 

2. History of the Devil: a fragment. 

3. The Mob Grammar. 

4. Character of the Scotch. 

5. Fragments of an Act of Parliament relating to monu- 
ments erected in Westminster Abbey. 

Mason also mentions a fragment of Mr, Gray's, " A History 
of Hell," which appears to have been a political squib. See 
Walpole and Mason Correspondence, i. 66. " Pray take no- 
tice of the conclusion concerning Kingcraft, and tell me whe- 
ther he is not a prophet as well as poet." See also p. 156. 

* Dr. Gisborne. Who the rogue in Piccadilly was, I do not 
know, for there was no Court Guide in those days. Lord Bath, 
who had lived there, was dead; but Lord March was then 
living in the street. The parish rate-books, which still exist, 
would be the only guide that I know in solving the mystery. 



THE POET GEAY. 427 

party concerned, which five shillings reward 
may certainly bring about. Hitherto luckily 
nobody has taken any notice of it, nor I hope 
ever will. 

Dr. Balguy tells me you talk of Cambridge ; 
come away then forthwith, when your Christ- 
mas duties and mince-pies are over ; for what 
can you do at Aston, making snow-balls all 
January.* Here am I just returned from 
London. I have seen Lt. t whose looks are 
much mended, and he has leave to break up for 
a fortnight, and is gone to Bath. Poor Dr. 
Hurd has undergone a painful operation : they 
say it was not a fistula, but something very 
like it. He is now in a way to be well, and by 
this time goes abroad again. Delaval was con- 
fined two months with a like disorder. He 
suffered three times under the hands of Haw- 
kins, and, though he has now got out, and 
walking the streets, does not think himself 
cured, and still complains of uneasy sensations. 
Nobody but I and Eraser, and Dr. Ross (who 

* About two months after the date of this letter Mr. James 
Harris wrote to Chancellor Hoadly, saying, " Mason preached 
at St. James's, early prayers, and gave a fling at the French 
for their invasion of Corsica. Thus politics, you see, have 
entered the sanctuary." See Wobll's Life of J Warton, p. 343, 

f Mr. Lort, before mentioned, 



428 LETTERS OE 

it is said is just made Dean of Ely), are quite 
well. Dr. Thomas, # of Christ's, is Bishop of 
Carlisle.! Do not you feel a spice of concu- 
piscence ? Adieu. 

I am ever yours, 

T. G. 

* Dr. Thomas was Master of Christ's College; was offered 
a bishoprick, and persuaded by Law, formerly of Christ's and 
Master of Peterhouse, to decline it, that he himself might be 
nominated Bishop. Such was always the representation of Mrs. 
Thomas. — MS. Note by Professor Smyth to me. 

| Edmund Law was made Bishop of Carlisle in 1768. A 
Dr. John Thomas, Bishop of Winchester, was translated from 
Peterborough in 1757. See Walpole's George II. vol. i. p. 
292; George III. vol, i. p 75; iv. p. 370, for an account of 
him ; but on the subject of these synonymous doctors see Bishop 
Newton's Autobiography, p. 59. " Dr. Thomas, who died 
Bishop of Salisbury. I so describe him, for it was not always 
easy to distinguish the two Dr. Thomas's. Somebody was 
speaking of Dr. Thomas ; he was asked, Which Dr. Thomas do 
you mean ? Dr. John Thomas. They are both named John. 
Dr. Thomas, who has a living in the City. They both have 
livings in the City. Dr. Thomas, who is Chaplain to the King. 
They are both Chaplains to the King. Dr. Thomas, who is a 
very good preacher. They are both very good preachers. 
Dr. Thomas, who squints. They both squint ; for Dr. Thomas, 
who died Bishop of Winchester, handsome as he was, had a 
little cast in one of his eyes. John Thomas, Bishop of Salis- 
bury, was Preceptor to the Prince of Wales (George III.)." 
See on him Waldegrave's Memoirs, p. 10 and p. 36; in the 
latter place he is called Bishop of Norwich (by mistake). I 



THE POET GRAY. 429 

Mr. Brown's companion here isLordBichard.* 
What is come of Foljambe ? f Service to my 
curate. 

may add that both these John Thomas's had been Bishops of 
Salisbury, one in 1757, the other in 1761. He of Salisbury 
died in 1766; he of Winchester in 1791: but there was a 
third Dr. John Thomas, who succeeded Dr. Pearce as Dean of 
Westminster, and on his death, in 1774, succeeded him as the 
Bishop of Rochester. An old Kentish gentleman, a neighbour 
of this Bishop's, told me, many years ago, that he knew him 
well ; but all he remembered, or rather all he communicated, 
was, that the Bishop used to net partridges, which he thought 
very unlike a sportsman. The portrait of this Dr. Thomas, 
by Sir Joshua Reynolds, is in the Bridgwater Gallery, No. 270, 
and his monument in Westminster Abbey, with his bust by 
Nollekens, and a Latin inscription by his nephew, G. A. T. 
The Bishop died August 20, 1793, aged 81 years. 
* Lord Richard Cavendish. 

t " Here is Mr. Foljambe has got a flying hobgoblin from 
the East Indies and a power of rarities ; then he has given me 
such a phalasna, with looking-glasses in its wings, and a queen of 
the white ants, &c. .... Oh! she is a jewel of a pismire." 
Gray's Letter to Nicholls, vide Works, v. p. 113. Mason, 
in a letter to Horace Walpole in 1771, asks him for a recom- 
mendatory letter or two to some persons of fashion at Paris, 
for a young gentleman of his neighbourhood, Mr. Foljambe, of 
an ancient family and good fortune, &c See Walpole and 
Mason Correspondence, vol. i. p. 40. This person was pro- 
bably Francis Ferrand Home Foljambe, who represented the 
county of York 1787 ; married as his second wife Arabella, 
daughter of Lord Scarborough, in 1792; died in 1814. The 
arms of twenty families appear on the Foljambe monuments 



M>0 LETTERS OE 

LETTER CXXV. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Old Park, 
DEAR MASON, Saturday, August 26th, 1769. 

I received last night your letter, big with 
another a week older than itself. You might 
as well have wrote to me from the deserts of 
Arabia, and desired me to step over and drink 
a dish of tea with you. This morning I sent to 
Auckland for a chaise ; the man's answer is 
that he had a chaise with four horses returned 
yesterday from Hartlepool, that the road was 
next to impassable, and so dangerous that he 
does not think of sending out any other that 
way, unless the season should change to a long 
drought. I would have gone by Durham, but 
am assured that road is rather worse. What 
can I do ? You speak so jauntily, and enter so 
little into any detail of your own journey, that 
I conclude you came on horseback from Stock- 
ton (which road, however, is little better for 
carriages). If so, we hope you will ride over to 

at Chesterfield. His seats, Osberton, Notts; Aldweston, York- 
shire. Sir Thomas Foljamhe was a person of public note in 
the time of Henry the Third. 



THE POET GRAY. 431 

Old Park with Mr. Alclerson ; # there is room for 
you both, and hearty welcome. The doctor 
even talks of coming (for he can ride) to invite 
you on Monday. I wonder how you are accom- 
modated where you are, and what you are doing 
with Gen. Carey. I would give my ears to get 
thither, but all depends on the sun. Adieu. 

It is twenty miles to Old Park, and the way 
is by Hart, over Sheraton Moor, and through 
Trimdon. There is no village else that has a 
name. Pray write a line by the bearer. 

T. Gray. 

We have a confirmation of the above account 
of the state of the roads from other evidences ; 
nevertheless, I shall certainly come on horse- 
back on Monday to inquire after your proceed- 
ings and designs, and to prevail upon you and 
Mr. Alderson to return with me to Old Park. 
A rainy morning, perhaps, may stop us a few 
hours, but when it clears up I shall set forward. 
Adieu ; accept all our compliments. 

Yours ever, 

T. Whahton. 

* The Eev. Christopher Alderson, curate to Mr. Mason, 
and afterwards Eector of Aston and of Eckington, before 
alluded to. 



432 LETTERS OE 

LETTER CXXVI. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, Lancaster, 10 Oct. 1769. 

I set out on the 29th September, with poor 
Doctor Wharton, and lay at Brough, but he 
was seized with a fit of the asthma the same 
night, and obliged in the morning to return 
home. I went by Penrith to Keswick, and 
passed six days there lap'd in Elysium ; then 
came slowly by Ambleside to Kendal, and this 
day arrived here. I now am projecting to 
strike across the hills into Yorkshire, by Settle, 
and so get to Mason's ; then, after a few days, 
I shall move gently towards Cambridge. The 
weather has favoured all my motions just as I 
could wish. 

I received your letter of 23 Sept. ; was glad 
you deviated a little from the common track, 
and rejoiced you got well and safe home. 

I am, ever yours, 

T. G. 



THE POET GRAY. 433 

LETTER CXXVII. 

TO RICHARD STONHEWER, ESQ., DURHAM. 
(By Caxton Bag.) 

My DEAR SlR, Cambridge, November 2, 1769. 

I am sincerely pleased with every mark of 
your kindness, and as such I look upon your 
last letter in particular.* I feel for the sorrow 
you have felt, and yet I cannot wish to lessen 
it; that would be to rob you of the best part 
of your nature, to efface from your mind the 
tender memory of a father's love, and deprive 
the dead of that just and grateful tribute which 
his goodness demanded from you. 

I must, however, remind you how happy it 
was for him that you were with him to the last; 
that he was sensible, perhaps, of your care, 
when every other sense was vanishing. He 
might have lost you the last year, f might have 
seen you go before him, at a time when all the 
ills of helpless old age were coming upon him, 

* Mr. Stonhewer's father, the Rev. Richard Stonhewer, 
D.D., Rector of Houghton-le-Spring, Durham, died 1769. See 
Gent. Mag., Deaths (November). This short, but exquisitely 
tender and beautiful letter, will not be passed by the reader 
without the attentive feeling it deserves. 

| I had been very ill at the time alluded to. — M. 

2 J? 



434 LETTERS OF 

and, though not destitute of the attention and 
tenderness of others, yet destitute of your atten- 
tion and your tenderness. May God preserve 
you, my hest friend, and, long after my eyes are 
closed, give you that last satisfaction in the 
gratitude and affection of a son, which you have 
given your father. 

I am ever most truly and entirely yours, 

T. G. 



LETTER CXXVLU. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR SIR, Pembroke College, December 2nd, 1769. 

I am afraid something is the matter with 
you that I hear nothing from you since I passed 
two days with you in your ahsence. I am not 
in Ireland, as you perhaps might imagine by 
this natural sentence, but shall be as glad to 
hear from you as if I were. 

A week ago I saw something in the news- 
paper signed " An Enemy to Brick Walls in 
Improper Places." While I was studying how, 
for brevity's sake, to translate this into Greek, 
Mr. Brown did it in one word, Ma<roi/i8ijy. I 
hope it is not that complaint, hard I must own 



THE POET GKRAY. 435 

to digest, that sticks in your stomach, and 
makes you thus silent. 

I am sorry to tell you that I hear a very bad 
account of Dr. Hurd. He was taken very ill at 
Thurcaston, and obliged with difficulty to be 
carried in a chaise to Leicester. He remained 
there confined some time before he could be 
conveyed on to London. As they do not men- 
tion what his malady is, I am much afraid it is 
a return of the same disorder that he had last 
year in town. I am going thither for a few 
days myself, and shall soon be able to tell you 
more of hini. 

Wyatt* is returned hither very calm but me- 
lancholy, and looking dreadfully pale. He 
thinks of orders, I am told. Adieu. 

I am ever yours, 

T. GL 

* The Eev. William Wyatt, A.M., F.E.S., elected Fellow 
of Pembroke College in 1763, Eector of Framlingham-cum- 
Saxted in 1782, and in 1792 of Theberton in Suffolk; buried 
Feb. 8, 1813, aged 71 years. 



2 f 2 



436 LETTERS OP 

LETTER CXXIX. 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 
DEAR SIR, Jermyn Street, 14th Dec. 1769. 

I have seen Dr. Hurd, and find the story I 
told yon is not true, thongh (I thonght) I had 
it on very good authority. He was indeed ill 
at Thurcaston, bnt not so since, and walked an 
hour in Lincoln's Inn walks with me very 
hearty, though his complexion presages no good. 
St. # is come to town, and in good health. The 
weather and the times look very gloomy, and 
hang on my spirits, though I go to the Italian 
puppet show (the reigning diversion) to exhi- 
larate them. I return to Cambridge on Tues- 
day next, where I desire you would send me a 
more exhilarating letter. Adieu. 

I am ever yours, 

T. G. 

All your acquaintances here are well — Lord 
Newnham and Mr. Ramsden, and all. 

* Stonhewer. 



THE POET GRAY. 437 

LETTEK CXXX. 

TO THE KEV. WILLIAM MASON. 

Dear Mason, 1770. 

I am very well at present, the usual effect of 
my summer expeditious, and much obliged to 
you, gentlemen, for your kind inquiry after me. 
I have seen Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, 
Monmouthshire, Herefordshire, Shropshire — 
five of the best counties this kingdom has to 
produce. The chief grace and ornament of my 
journey was the river Wye, which 1 descended 
in a boat from Hoss to Chepstow (near forty 
miles), surrounded with ever-new delights; 
among which were the New Weir (see Whate- 
ley), Tintern Abbey, and Persfield. I say 
nothing of the Yale of Abergavenny, Hagland 
Castle, Ludlow, Malvern Hills, the Leasowes, 
and Hagley, &c, nor how I passed two days at 
Oxford very agreeably. The weather was very 
hot, and generally serene. I envy not your 
Grefners,* nor your Wensley-dale and Aisgarth 
Eorces; but did you see Winander-mere and 
Grass-mere? Bid you get to Keswick, and 
what do you think of the matter ? I stayed a 

* His allusion to Greffiers or registrars must refer to some 
passage in a letter of Mason's which is wanting. 



438 LETTERS OF 

fortnight stewing in London, and now am in 
the midst of this dead quiet, with nohody hut 
Mr. President* near me, and he "is not dead, 
hut sleepeth." 

The politics of the place are that Eishop 
Warhurton will chouse Bishop Keenef out of 
Ely by the help of Lord Mansfield, who can be 
refused nothing at present. Every one is fright- 
ened except Tom Neville. 

Palgrave, I suppose, is at Mr. Weddell's, and 
has told you the strange casualties of his house- 
hold. Adieu. 

I am ever yours, 

T. G. 

The letter in question was duly received. 

* The Rev. James Brown, President of Pembroke College. 

■f Bishop Keene was translated from Chester to Ely, 1771. 
See account of this transaction in Bishop Newton's Life of 
Himself, p. 114. In 1764 there was a correspondence between 
Warburton and George Grenville on the bishopric of London, 
which was vacant by the death of Osbaldeston, when Terrick 
was appointed to it. See Grenville Papers, vol. ii. pp. 313 — 
316. Bishop Keene had, in 1764, refused the Primacy of 
Ireland: see ibid. pp. 534, 535. 



THE POET GRAY. 439 

LETTER CXXXI. 
TO THE REV. JAMES BROWN. 
DEAR SlR, Jermyn Street, May 22, 1770. 

I have received two letters from you with 
one inclosed from Paris and one from Mason. 
I met poor Barber (?) two or three days after the 
fire with evident marks of terror in his coun- 
tenance ; he has moved his quarters (I am told) 
somewhere into Gray's -inn-lane, near the fields. 

I do not apprehend anything more than 
usual from the City Remonstrance; 5 * and the 

* See Hansard's Parliamentary Reports, vol. xvi. p. 900, 
for the Address of both Houses to the King on the City Re- 
monstrance. The addresses and answers were in the Annual 
Register, 1770, p. 199 to p. 203. In the Misc. Correspon- 
dence of Horace Walpole, so well edited by Mr. Wright, 
vol. v. p. 275, is a note on this subject, in which the Editor 
quotes a MS. note of Isaac Reed, saying, " That Beckford did 
not utter one syllable of this speech". It was penned by Home 
Tooke, and by his art put on the records of the city and on 
Beckford's statue, as he told me, Mr. Braithwaite, Mr. Sayer, 
&c. at the Athenasum Club :" then adding, " There can be but 
little doubt that the worthy Commentator and his friends were 
imposed upon ;" meaning, I presume, they were imposed upon 
by Home Tooke. If so, it was an imposition which he main- 
tained also with others. My friend Mr. William Maltby, of the 
London Institution, whom I questioned on the subject, answers 
me to this effect: — "Dr. Charles Burney first told me the 



440 LETTERS OF 

party principally concerned, I hear, does not in 
the least regard it. The conversation you men- 
tion in the House of Lords is very true; it 
happened about a fortnight since; and the 
Archbishop replied, it was not any concern of 
his, as he had received no complaint from 
the University on that head. It begins to be 
doubted whether Lord Anglesey * will carry 

speech in Guildhall was written by Home Tooke, and was never 
delivered. The first time I saw Mr. Tooke afterwards I asked 
him the question. He said he wrote every word of that speech, 
and he was much amused when one of the corporation said he 
had heard every word of it delivered, with the exception of 
" two" and " necessary." It must be remembered that Charles 
Townshend said " That Beckford had made no had speech 
upon the exclamation of His Majesty (in 1763). It is com- 
posed upon good ideas of taste, and firm and explicit, without 
being indecent or warm." See Grenville Papers, ii. 133, and 
Rockingham Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 173 ; and for some account 
of Beckford, ibid. p. 169. 

* This alludes to the disputed Peerage. Arthur, on 
arriving at his majority 1765, took his seat as Lord Valentia, 
after an investigation by the Lords of Ireland of nearly four 
years, during his minority ; his succession to the Irish estates 
being opposed by his kinsman, John Annesley, derived from 
the first Regent Valentia. When he petitioned for his writ of 
summons to the Parliament of Great Britain as Earl of 
Anglesey, the judgment was against him. A renewal of the 
claim again took place in Ireland, when they came to the same 
conclusion as before, and confirmed the claim. So his Lord- 
ship enjoyed his Irish honours; but the earldom in England 



THE POET GRAY. 441 

his point, his witnesses being so very Irish in 
their understandings and consciences that they 
puzzle the cause they came to prove ; but this 
cannot be cleared up till another session. Pa. 
and I have often visited, but never met. I 
saw my Lord and Tom* the other day at 
breakfast in good health ; and Lady Maria did 
not beat me, but giggled a little. Monsieur de 
Villervielle has found me out, and seems a sen- 
sible, quiet young man. He returns soon to 
France with the ambassador, but means to 
revisit England and see it better. I dined at 
Hampton Court on Sunday all alone with St. 
who inquired after you ; and the next day with 
the same, and a good deal of company in town. 

was considered as extinct, and the title of the latter conferred 
on another family. See Gent. Magazine on this subject, 
vol. xiv. xxi. xxvi. xli. Dr. Balguy wrote to Dr. Warton: 
" I doubt your friend Lord Lyttelton is by no means sure of 
success in the business of the Anglesey claim. There is proof, 
not easy to be overcome, that the certificate of the marriage 
is forged, The House wait at present for some living witnesses 
from Ireland" See Wooll's Life of Warton, p. 372. It was 
published as " The Trial or Ejectment between Campbell 
Craig, lessee of James Annesley, Esq. and other plaintiffs, and 
the Eight Hon. Richard Earl of Anglesey, defendant, Dublin, 
1774.'" For full particulars see Collins's Peerage, art o 
Anglesey. 

* Lord Strathmore and Thomas Lyon, and Lady Maria 
Lyon his wife. 



442 LETTERS OF 

I have not seen him so well this long time. I 
am myself indifferent ; the head- ache returns 
now and then, and a little grumbling of the 
gout ; but I mean to see you on Monday or 
Tuesday next. 

Adieu. I am ever yours, T. G. 

PS. Pray is Mrs. Olliffe come to Cam- 
bridge ? 



LETTER CXXXIL 
TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

DEAR MASON, Pembroke Hall, Oct. 24, 1770. 

I have been for these three weeks and more 
confined to my room by a fit of the gout, and 
am now only beginning to walk alone again. 
I should not mention the thing, but that I am 
well persuaded it will soon be your own case, as 
you have so soon laid aside your horse, and 
talk so relishingly of your old port. 

I cannot see any objection to your design for 
Mr. Pierce. As to "Wilson* we know him much 
alike. He seems a good honest lad ; and I 
believe is scholar enough for your purpose. Per- 
haps this connection may make (or mar) his 

* Thomas Wilson, elected Fellow of Pembroke in 1767; 
became vicar of Soliam 1769; died 1797. 



THE POET GKRAY. 443 

fortune. Our friend Foljambe * has resided in 
college, and persevered in the ways of godliness 
till about ten days ago, when he disappeared, and 
no one knows whether he is gone a hunting or 
a * * * # rjy^ G little Fitzherbert t is come a 

* A Fellow Commoner of Bene't College, of a Yorkshire 
family, and a person of fortune. He was lineally descended 
from one of the knights who murdered Becket. A carving in 
bas-relief in stone was ordered by the King, soon after the 
murder, to be placed in the castle of this Knight, which repre- 
sented the deed : it was in the possession of Mason. See pre- 
vious note to Letter cxxiv. 

"j" The little Fitzherbert was afterwards Lord St. Helen's, 
brother of the one mentioned in Letter ex. : he took a high: 
degree in 1774. Of the visit which Gray paid to him on the 
occasion, Lord St. Helen's gave an account to Mr. Samuel 
Eogers, which he has allowed me to transcribe from his own 
words: — "I came to St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1770, 
and that year received a visit from Gray, having a letter of 
introduction to him. He was accompanied by Dr. Gisborne, 
Mr. Stonhewer, and Mr. Palgrave, and they walked one after 
one, in Indian file. When they withdrew, every college man 
took off his cap as he passed, a considerable number having 
assembled in the quadrangle to see Mr. Gray, who was seldom 
seen. I asked Mr. Gray, to the great dismay of his com- 
panions, what he thought of Mr. Garrick's Jubilee Ode, just 
published ? He answered, ' He was easily pleased.' " Lord 
St. Helen's was Minister for some time at the Court of St. 
Petersburgh, and could recollect in after-life and repeat some 
interesting anecdotes of the Empress Catherine. He resided 
and I believe died in Albemarle Street. Mr. Eogers often 



444 LETTERS OF 

pensioner to St. John's, and seems to have all 
his wits about him. Your eleve Lord Richard 
Cavendish, having digested all the learning and 
all the beef this place could afford him in a two 
months' residence, is about to leave us, and his 
little brother George* succeeds him. Bishop 
Keene has brought a son from Eton to Peter- 
house ; andDr.Heberdent another to St. John's, 

speaks of the pleasure he had in his acquaintance, of his visits 
to Lord St. Helen's house, and of his agreeable and enlightened 
conversation. In his last illness — moriens legavit — he pre- 
sented to Mr. Rogers, Pope's own copy of Garth's Dispensary, 
enriched with the MS. annotations of the younger poet, in his 
early print-hand. The Ode of Garrick was " An Ode on 
dedicating a building, or erecting a statue, to Shakspere at 
Stratford-upon-Avon, by D. G." 1769, 4to. and it is bad 
enough ! 

* Lord George Augustus Henry, born Feb. 27, 1754, 
married 1792 Lady Elizabeth Compton, created Earl of 
Burlington, and died May 9, 1834. 

"j* Dr. William Heberden, formerly Fellow of St. John's Col- 
lege, Cambridge, died in his 91st year in May, 1801, being 
then Senior Fellow of the College of Physicians. See a good 
sketch of his life in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. iii. 
p. 71-74. He was called by Dr. Johnson " Ultimus Ro- 
manorum," and his name is immortalized in the poetry of 
Cowper : 

" Virtuous and faithful Heberden, whose skill 
Attempts no task it cannot well fulfil," &c. 

His son, destined to the Church, was Charles, of St. John's 
College, who died May, 1796, aged 24. Dr. Heberden, in a 



THE POET GRAY. 445 

who is entered pensioner, and destined to the 

Church. This is all my university news ; but 

why do I tell you? come yourself and see, for I 

hope you remember your promise at Aston, 

and will take us in your way as you go to your 

town residence. 

You have seen Stonhewer, I imagine, who 

went northwards on Saturday last; pray tell 

me how he is, for I think him not quite well. 

Tell me this, and tell me when I may expect to 

see you here. 

I am ever yours, T. G. 



LETTER CXXXm. 
REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 
DEAR Mr. GRAY, Curzon Street * March 27. 

I find from Stonhewer that he has now 
129Z. 10s. 6d. as appears by the account on the 
opposite page ; if therefore it be not inconve- 
nient to you I should be glad to borrow 1001. 
of you for a little pocket-money during the 
present sequestration of my ecclesiastical and 

letter to Dr. Birch, introduces Mason to him. " He is of the 
same college with me, and I have a great esteem for him." 
Hs was indeed Mason's earliest friend, and patron. 

* Mason had stayed during the winter at Mr. Stonhewer's 
house, in Curzon Street, May Fair. 



446 LETTERS OF 

temporal concerns.* I wish you would favour 
me with a line as soon as may be on this 
matter ; and if you do not object to my pro- 
posal, I will immediately send you my note, 
which I have the vanity to presume is as good 
as my bond. S.t is perfectly well; the fort- 
night's rest which his feverish complaint obliged 
him to take totally removed his other malady, 
so that he has never had occasion to recur to 
his former applications, which both you and I 
thought dangerous, and I always unnecessary. 

Wilson was with me yesterday ; he has very 
gladly accepted the tutoring of Mr. Pierse, and 
will write to Mr. Brown shortly on that sub- 
ject ; I therefore turn the matter over entirely 
to him and the master. 

The general opinion of what will be the 
business of the day is, that the Lord Mayor £ 

* I presume that Mason must allude to his expenses at this 
time, occasioned by his erection of the new rectory house at 
Aston ; a general account of which extended, from December, 
1769, to December, 1772. Mason pulled down the old par- 
sonage, and erected a very handsome and commodious house 
upon another site, which must have cost a considerable sum 
of money, as the Archbishop told him, when he visited Aston 
parish, of which episcopal visit, Mason gives some account in 
a letter to Horace Walpole. 

f Mr. Stonhewer. 

J " Brass Crosby," who was very popular. See Walpole's 
George III. vol. iv. pp. 195 and 304. Cavendish Debates, 



THE POET GRAY. 447 

on account of his gout will not be sent to the 
Tower, but committed to the care of Bonfoy, 
whose pizzy-wizzyship will be horribly frighted 
on the occasion. The riot is nothing in com- 
parison of what you would have thought re- 
spectable when you interested yourself in these 
matters, and attended them in Bloomsbury 
Square. 

I am much amused at present in living privy 
to a great court secret, known only to myself, 
the King, and about five or six persons more in 
the world. I found it out by a penetration 
which would have done honour to a first 
minister in the best of days, even in the days of 
Sir Robert* or Fobus. When it is ripe for dis- 
covery, I shall perhaps let you into some parts 
of it that will never be made public ; in the 
meanwhile mum is the word from 

Your friend and servant, Skroddles. 

I am glad the Master likes his chairs ; my 
true love to him. 

ii. 422, 467. Adolphus's History, i. 469. Belsham's History 
i. 349. Walpole to Mann, ii. 144. Eockingham Papers, 
ii. 205, where is some account of him. He is said "for a time 
to have almost rivalled Wilkes in popularity." 

* Sir Eohert Walpole and Duke of Newcastle. See Lord 
Holland's character of the Duke of Newcastle in Selwyn 
Correspondence, ii. p. 269. 



448 LETTERS OF 

Received by Mr. Ston- £ s. d. £ s. d. 

hewer of Mr. Barber 

for Mr. Gray 180 14 

Paid for Mr. Brown's 

patent 49 1 6 

Given to Mr. Barber . 2 2 

51 3 6 



Remains . . 129 10 6 



LETTER CXXXIV. 

REV. WILLIAM MASON TO GRAY. 

DEAR Mr. GRAY, Curzon Street, April 15th, 1771. 

Stonhewer has this post received yours, but 
you tiffed at him so much in a former letter 
that you are not to wonder he is backward in 
answering it ; however, he means to write to 
you if he survives the next subscription masque- 
rade, for the superb garniture of which the 
Adelphi* are now exerting all their powers. 

* The two brothers, Adams, who built the Adelphi, and, 
among other things, Lord Bute's house at Luton: the entrance- 
gate to the Duke of Northumberland's at Sion is also theirs. 
Walpole, writing to Mason, says: " Sir William Chambers is 
not gone away, so I retract all, but that the Adams' ought to be 
goner Vol. ii. p. 89. 



THE POET GRAY. 449 

Lovatini* cannot sing for them to-morrow, and 
it is thought Mrs. Cornelys f will be happy if 
they allow her a third underground floor in 
Durham-yard to hide her diminished head in. 
Well, and so the great state secret is out, that 
I and the King knew so well two months ago : 
but it may be well to inform you, and such 
rusticated folks as you, that it is not my friend 
the surveyor Jackson, of Hornby Castle, who is 
sub -preceptor, but a Jackson of Christ Church. J 

* Lovatini enjoyed the public favour for eight years, and 
left England in 1774. 

f Mrs. Cornelys established a subscription concert in Soho 
Square, where the best performers and best company assem- 
bled; till Bach and Abel uniting interests, in 1765, opened a 
subscription, about 1763, for a weekly concert, which con- 
tinued with uninterrupted prosperity for twenty years, See 
Burney's Hist, of Music, iv. 676. Previous to Mrs. Cornelys, 
Hickford's dancing school continued the fashionable place for 
concerts. See Burney, iv. p. 196. Walpole says, in a letter 
to George Montagu, " Strawberry, with all its painted glass and 
glitter, looked as gay as Mrs. Cornelys's ball-room." Miscel- 
laneous Correspondence, v. p. 274. See also Selwyn Corre- 
spondence, vol. i. p. 340. " Have we not every house open 
every night, from Cornelys 's to Mrs Holman's?" 1765. 
Again in p. 360, which mentions the rise of Almack's. See 
also Walpole and Mason's Corresp. vol. ii. p. 153. 

J Dr. Cyril Jackson, afterwards Dean of Christ Church. 
He was sub-preceptor; L. Smelt, the sub-governor; Lord 
Holdernesse, governor, 1771. See Walpole to Mann, ii. 379. 
Afterwards the preceptors were Markham and Hurd. See 

2 a 



450 LETTERS OF 

My uncle Powell* may bless his stars that he is 
removed to Court, for he read such wonderful 
mathematical lectures there, that if he had 
gone on a few years longer it is thought St. 
John's would have been eclipsed by the glories 
of Peckwater, that Peckwater which, in the 
days of Roger Paine, was fain to bow even to 
Trinity. Then what say you of Mr. Smelt ? 
Is it not a proof that patient merit will buoy 
up at last ? In a word, did you ever see an 
arrangement formed upon a more liberal and 
unministerial ground? To say nothing of the 
Governor himself, what think you of the pre- 
ceptor ? Could anything be more to yours and 
Lord Mansfield's mind ? Pray let me know if 
the new-married Stephen t chooses to be seller of 
mild and stale to his royal highness, because I 
would put his name on the list of the expectants 
I am to apply for, if agreeable. I have a 
baker, a locksmith, a drawing-master, a laun- 
dress, an archbishop's cast-off groom of the 
chamber, already upon my hands ; you must 

Walpole's George III. vol. iv. 311, for an account of these 
appointments. Hurd, in the dates of his Life, p. xii. writes, 
"Was made* preceptor to the Prince of Wales, and his brother 
Prince Frederic, 5 June, 1776." 

* On Powell, see Letter lxxxvi. He had been one of the 
tutors at St. John's College, while Balguy was the other. 

j Probably alluding to Gray's servant. See p. 459, note. 



THE POET GRAY. 451 

speak in time if you would have anything, not 
that I believe there will be a household these 
several years, even if we were rich enough to 
pay for one. Lord J. blabbed to Jack Dixon 
that Dr. Hurd refused, and he blabbed it to 
Gould, who will blab it to all the university, 
and we shall be quite shent. Tell Gould,* if 
he says a word, that Oddyngtont may again 
become vacant, and I shall certainly serve him 
as I served him before. Now I thought that 
Jack Dixon J would have been at Petersburg 
before he could tell it to anybody, and I did 
not much mind whether the Czarina knew it 
or no, for I know she will get out all Jack's 
secrets in some of their amorous moments. But 
here am I writing nonsense when I should be 
thanking you seriously for your 1001. , and 
sending you your security. Voila done : here it 
is, tear it off and put it in your§ [strong-box]. 
You say nothing of coming up, and Palgrave 
affects not to come up till the beginning of 

* " My service to creeping Gain (I do not mean Mr. Gould); 
I hope it has conceived vast hopes from the smiles of his 
grace." Nicholls to Gray, Works, vol. v. p. 97. 

-f- The living before alluded to, which was in Mr. Mason's 
gift, as Precentor of York Cathedral. 

J A relation of Mason's ; mentioned in Mason's will. 

§ Torn out. 

2g2 



452 LETTERS OP 

May. I will press neither of yon, I know you 
both too well. As to myself, I mean to fly 
northward by the way of Northamptonshire ; 
and poor Hoyland* comes Zephyris et Hirundme 

* This was the Francis Hoyland whose Poems were pub- 
lished in 1763, 4to. and subsequently reprinted, with much 
alteration, in his edition of the English Poets, 1808, by Mr. 
Thomas Parke (The Poetical Works of the Rev. Mr. Hoyland, 
collated with the best editions). Horace Walpole, in a letter to 
Mason, of May, 1769, says, " When I see Mr. Stonhewer I 
will know if he will choose another edition of poor Mr. Hoy- 
lanoVs Poems. I doubt not, as when he sent for the last 
twenty he said he believed he could get them off. I gladly 
adopt your correction, but I cannot further your own good- 
ness. It is to you, Sir, Mr. Hoyland owes everything." See 
also Mason's letter, p. 8. The edition from the Strawberry Hill 
Press of Hoyland's Poems was printed in 1769. In 1783 
appeared Odes by the Rev. F. Hoyland, Edinb. 4to, with the 
following motto in the title-page : — - 

Ssepe manus demens, studiis irata sibique 
Misit in arsuros carmina nostra focos. 

Atque ita de multis quoniam non multa supersunt, 
Cum venia, facito, quisquis es, ista legi. 

Ovid. 

This edition contains four Odes. 1. From the French of 
Fenelon. 2. The Dove. 3. An Autumnal Ode. And Ode 
Four, the Ode to the Guardian Angel, much altered from 
the edition of 1763, in the Strawberry Hill edition, 1769. 
Rural Happiness, an Elegy in the first edition, is called an 
Ode in that of 1769. 

In the edition of his poems, 1822, is a brief Memoir by 



THE POET GRAY. 453 

prima; but as it snows at present you will 
think, perhaps, to find me here in June, and 
perhaps you may. Well ! do your pleasure; 
and believe me ever yours, 

W. M. 

Congratulate me on the cessation of all my 
fears about kitchen-garden walls, &c. ; it is an 
ill wind that blows nobody profit. 

R. A. Davenport. From this we learn that Hoyland was 
born previous to 1725; that he was Bachelor of Arts, 
probably of Cambridge ; that he was married, and had a 
child. Patronage, for which he had often prayed, he at 
length obtained; but he gave us to understand that it was 
burthened with conditions by which it was rendered a curse. 
It is obvious, from his own language, that his promotion, 
whatever it was, made him a dependent, and that to some one 
who exacted his full share of homage, if not of servility. 
Mr. Davenport was at a loss to know by what means Hoy- 
land's poems acquired a typographical distinction (he means 
at the Strawberry Hill press) which was so seldom granted. 
The title-page to the first edition was as follows : — 

Poems and Translations by Francis Hoyland, A.B. 

Nasutum volo, nolo polyposum. (Martial.) 

Give me a house like other people, 
Not one as large as Strasburg steeple. 

(Printed for London and York), 1763. (Two Shillings). 



454 LETTERS OF 

LETTER CXXXV. 
TO THE REY. JAMES BROWN. 

Dear Sir, 

I am sorry to think you are coming to town 
at a time when I am ready to leave it ; but so 
it must be, for here is a son born unto us, and 
he must die a heathen without your assistance; 
Old Pa. is in waiting ready to receive you at 
your landing. Mason set out for Yorkshire 
this morning. Delaval is by no means well, 
and looks sadly, yet he goes about and talks 
as loud as ever ; he fell upon me tooth and nail 
(but in a very friendly manner) 'only on the credit 
of the newspaper, for he knows nothing further ; 
told me of the obloquy that waits for me ; and 
said everything to deter me from doing a thing 
that is already done. Mason sat by and heard 
it all with a world of complacency. 

You see the determination of a majority of 
fifty -four > only two members for counties among 
them. It is true that Luttrell was insulted, 
and even struck with a flambeau, at the door 
of the House of Commons on Friday night; but 
he made no disturbance, and got away. How 
he will appear in public I do not conceive. 
Great disturbances are expected, and I think 



THE POET GRAY. 455 

with more reason than ever. Petitions to Par- 
liament, well-attended, will (I suppose) be the 
first step, and next, to the King to dissolve the 
present Parliament. I own I apprehend the 
event whether the mob or the army are to get 
the better. 

You will wish to know what was the real 
state of things on the hearse-clay : * the driver, 
I hear, was one Stevenson, a man who lets out 
carriages to Wilkes's party, and is worth money. 

Lord was not rolled in the dirt, nor struck, 

nor his staff broken, but made the people a 
speech, and said he would down on his knees 
to them if they would but disperse and be 
quiet. They asked him whether he would 
stand on his head for them, and begun to 
shoulder him, but he retired among the sol- 
diers. Sir Ar. Gilmour received a blow, and 

* A hearse drawn by two black and two white horses, and 
hung with escutcheons representing the death of Clarke at 
Brentford and of Allen in St. George's Fields, appeared in 
the streets, and was drawn to the gates of St. James's, where 
the attendant mob hissed and insulted all who entered the 
court. Earl Talbot took courage and went down with his 
white staff, which was soon broken in his hand. He seized 
one man, and fourteen more of the rioters were made prisoners. 
The Duke of Northumberland was very ill treated, &c. See 
Walpole's Memoirs of George III. iii. 353; see also Lord 
Mahon's History, vol. v. p. 346. 



456 LETTERS OF 

seized the man who struck him, but the fellow 
fell down and was hustled away among the 
legs of the mob. At Eath House a page came 
in to his mistress, and said, he was afraid Lord 
Bath did not know what a disturbance there 
was below ; she asked him if " the house was 
on fire?'' he said "No; but the mob were 
forcing into the court :" she said " Is that all ; 
well I will go and look at them :" and actually 
did so from some obscure window. When she 
was satisfied, she said, " When they are tired of 
bawling I suppose they will go home." 

Mr. Hoss, a merchant,* was very near mur- 
dered, as the advertisement sets forth, by a 
man with a hammer, who is not yet discovered, 
in spite of the 600 £. reward. I stay a week 
longer. Adieu : I am, ever yours, 



* The Treasury offered a reward of 500Z. for discovering 
the person who, at the procession of the merchants, had with 
a hammer broken the chariot of one Ross, an aged merchant, 
and wounded him in several places. See Walpole's George III. 
iii. p. 354. 



THE POET GBAY. 457 

LETTER CXXXVL* 
REV. DR. BROWN TO THE REV. NORTON NICHOLLS. 
DEAR SIR, Pembroke Hall, July 26, 1771. 

I am writing to you in Mr. Gray's room, and 
lie is ill upon the couch, and unable to write to 
you himself. His illness is something like the 
gout in the stomach, but as Dr. Glynn tells me 
there are many different degrees of that disorder 
we may hope this is one of the less dangerous 
degrees, and that we shall see him well again 
in a short time. The last night passed over 
tolerably well, but this morning, after drinking 
asses-milk, the sickness at the stomach has re- 
turned again. Mr. Gray has received from you 
one letter from Paris, dated June 29, and he 
has sent you a letter from Mr. Temple inclosed 
in a very short one from himself. You will 
give me leave to add my best compliments to 
you, and hearty wishes for your health, and, 

* These and the five following letters are directed to Mr. 
Norton Nicholls of Blundeston. The letter that concludes the 
volume, from Dr. Wharton to Mason, has not been previously 
printed. Mr. Brown's Correspondence with Dr. Wharton, 
during Gray's last illness, may be found in the four volumes 
of Gray's Works, pp. 202, 223 ; and see Horace Walpole's 
Miscellaneous Letters, vol. v. p. 818. 



458 LETTERS OF 

when there happens a vacancy in your conver- 
sation with Mr. Bonstetten, tell him that I do 
myself the honour to think of him often with 
esteem and admiration, and wish him well.* 
I am, your faithful humble servant, 

J. Brown. 



LETTER CXXXVI. 
EEV. DR. BROWN TO THE REV. NORTON NICHOLLS. 
DEAR SlR, Pembroke Hall, Aug. 1, 1771. 

The night before last, between the 30th and 
31st of July, about eleven o'clock, we lost Mr. 
Gray. My former letter would give you some 
apprehensions, but we did not think this sad 
event to be so near. He had frequently con- 
vulsion fits from the time I wrote to you till 
the time of his death ; and the physicians 
thought he was past the sense of pain some 
hours before he died. On the Saturday he told 
me where to find his will if there should be 
occasion. I did not imagine then there would 
be occasion to look for it ; and he saidno more to 
me upon that subject. He told Miss Antrobus 
he should die ; and now and then some short 

* See Appendix. 



THE POET GHAT. 459 

expressions of this kind came from him, bnt 
he expressed not the least uneasiness at the 
thoughts of leaving this world. He has left 
all his books to Mr. Mason; and his papers 
of all kinds and writings to be destroyed or 
preserved at his discretion.* His legacies are 
to Miss Antrobus and her sister, to Mr. Wil- 
liamson of Calcutta, to Lady Goring, to Mr. 
Stonhewer, and Dr. Wharton. He has joined 
me in the executorship with Mr. Mason; his 
scrutoire hath not yet been examined, but upon 
opening it for the will, I observed a parcel 
sealed up and indorsed, " Papers belonging 
to Mr. Nicholls," which we shall take care 
of. Your last letter came too late for him 
either to read or to hear; I have it by me 
unopened, and will take care of it. Mr. Bon- 
stetten will be much grieved. Adieu ! we shall 
miss him greatly. Cambridge will appear a 
very different place to you when you come 

* The following is an extract from the Obituary in the 
Gentleman's Magazine, August 6, 1771: — "The remains of 
the late celebrated Mr. Gray, author of the Elegy in a Country 
Churchyard,* were, agreeably to his will, interred at Windsor. 
He has, among other legacies, left a pension to an old faithful 
servant named Stephen, who has lived with him several 
years." ! ! 



See Appendix IV. 



480 LETTERS OF 

again. I am, with my best wishes for your 
health, 

Your faithful humble servant, 

James Brown. 



LETTER CXXXVIII. 
REV. DR. BROWN TO THE REV. NORTON NICHOLLS. 

DEAR SIR, Pembroke Hall, Sept. 6, 1771. 

I thought it might be some satisfaction for 
you to know that I had disposed of the letter 
you mentioned according to your desire. You 
expressed yourself in the singular number. I 
have seven or eight others by me, several of 
which I have read in company with Mr. Gray, 
but be assured they are sacred. I have looked 
into none of them but with him, and shall 
still observe the same restraint. They may be 
kept till you come, or otherwise disposed of as 
you shall direct. I have received a letter lately 
from Mr. Mason. Mr. Gray, you know, made 
memorandums in his pocket-books of his trans- 
actions. In that for 1770, March 23, Mr. Mason 
tells me there is this memorandum : " Lent 
Mr. de Bonstetten 20£. ;" and it appears further 



THE POET GRAY. 461 

to be the day lie set out for Dover. I venture 
to mention this to you as it makes a part of our 
charge ; and perhaps it may be the best oppor- 
tunity we shall have of hearing from Mr. de 
Bonstetten how that matter stands. You will 
act in that matter as you please. No successor 
to Mr. Gray is yet appointed. Mr. Symonds* 
has been most mentioned ; I believe indeed he 
does not himself apply for it, which makes his 
success the more unlikely. I shall rejoice to 
see you, and to see you well. 

I am your faithful humble servant, 

James Brown. 



LETTER CXXXIX. 
REV. DR. BROWN TO THE REV. NORTON NICHOLLS. 

Dear Sir, June 29, 1773. 

I received your letter in London : it is dated 
May 21st, and I thought it a little unlucky 
that it came not to my hands before I left 
Cambridge, which was not till the 25th. I 
might then have delivered the parcel myself to 

* John Symonds, M.A. of St. John's College, succeeded 
to the Professorship in 1771, which he held till 1807. 



462 LETTERS OF 

Mr. Turner. I have now sent it by Mr. Gillam, 
and put it into his hands yesterday. He is a 
trusty agent, otherwise I should have thought 
your direction to Mr. Turner rather too concise. 
Amongst Mr. Gray's things we found some 
little presents for his friends, which they might 
esteem as memorials of him; for some of his 
friends I mean. Mr. de Bonstetten had sent 
him from Paris a little picture of himself; we 
thought it would be acceptable to you, and 
therefore, with Mr. Mason's full approbation, 
it is sent, and makes a part of your parcel. 
There are those of your letters which we found, 
but the two or three journals you speak of are 
not there, unless possibly they may be inclosed 
in the parcel sealed. Excuse me that I send no 
directions about the 201. You have wrote to Mr. 
de Bonstetten, who will mention it, if he be as 
we imagine. I met Mr. Barrett* twice in my 
walks in London, and should not have known 
him the first time had he not been kind enough 
to know me. I was pleased to see him look so 
well. You will easily know what was the sub- 
ject of our discourse whilst we stood together. 
I believe I was sitting by Mr. Gray at the time 
he wrote you his last letter to Paris, without 

* Mr. Barrett, of Lee Priory, near Canterbury. 



THE POET GRAY. 463 

feeling what it seems he suggested to you- — how 
near he was to his end. It gives me a melan- 
choly kind of satisfaction that my letters could 
he at all useful to you. The report you men- 
tion, I believe, was never uttered in England. 
Pray let me know when you receive your parcel. 
I am, with my hest wishes for your health, and 
with much esteem, 

Your faithful humhle servant, 

J. Brown. 



LETTER CXL. 
REV. DR. BROWN TO THE REV. NORTON NICHOLLS. 
DEAR SlR, Gibside, July 24, 1773. 

I received your letter at York, where I was 
upon a visit to Mr. Mason, who is at this time 
in residence there. As to the 20/., we were both 
of the same opinion, that it will be better to stay 
till Mr. de Bonstetten writes either to you or to 
one of the executors, and the rather because in 
case of any accident to Mr. de Bonstetten your 
payment to us will be no discharge for yourself 
against any claims which his executors might 
make. Mr. Mason desired his respectful com- 



464 LETTERS OF 

pliments to you. The Life proceeds well; it 
promises to be useful and entertaining. It will 
consist of five or six sections ; the first of them 
relates to his acquaintance with Mr. West, and 
will contain some extracts of letters and poems 
both Latin and English, and goes to the time of 
his going abroad with Mr. Walpole. I am much 
obliged to you for your kind invitations, and 
shall be very glad of the opportunity of seeing 
you whenever it so happens at Cambridge or in 
Suffolk. Pray make my compliments to your 
mother. I wish her joy of your safe return. 
I am, with great respect, 

Your faithful humble servant, 

J. Brown. 



LETTER CXLI. 
DR. WHARTON TO THE REV. WILLIAM MASON. 

SlR, Old Park, near Darlington, May 29,. 1781. 

I received the favour of your present yester- 
day. You will suffer me to acknowledge that I 
am particularly pleased with the elegant com- 
pliment you pay to the memory of Mr. Gray. 
I remember he said that the merit of his own 
to that of Shakespeare consisted in the novelty 



THE POET GRAY. 465 

of it, because it is difficult to invent anything 
new upon such subjects. The Sonnet has the 
same merit, and I am certain is of that kind 
which while he was upon earth would have 
pleased his ear. 

You will now listen for the public judgment; 
I mean as a satisfaction to your curiosity, for I 
can by no means admit it as a decision of the 
merits. I yet reflect with pain upon the cool 
reception which those noble odes, The Progress 
of Poetry and The Bard, met with at their 
first publication; it appeared that there were 
not twenty people in England who liked them. 

I expect to see my nephew shortly, when our 
conversations upon the subject of your poems 
will be renewed. He will always give me plea- 
sure when he can assure me you enjoy that 
happiness which ought to be the lot of wise 
and good men. Give me leave to mention Mr. 
Gray once more ; it was one of his favourite 
maxims that employment is happiness ; surely 
we may add, that the more elegant the employ- 
ment is, the more refined must be the hap- 
piness. 

I am, Sir, your most obliged and 

Obedient humble servant, 

Thomas Wharton. 



2 H 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX!. (See page 104.) 

Gray's Remarks on the Letters prefixed to Mason's 
Elfrida.— See Mason's Works, vol. ii. p. 177—193, 
and Gray's Letters, vol. iv. p. 1, ed. Aid. 

LETTER I. 

Dear sir — very bad; I am yours— equally bad: it is impos- 
sible to conciliate these passages to nature and Aristotle. 

" Allowed to modern caprice." — It is not caprice but good sense 
that made these alterations in the modern drama. A greater 
liberty in the choice of the fable and the conduct of it was 
the necessary consequence of retrenching the Chorus. Love 
and tenderness delight in privacy. The soft effusions of the 
soul, Mr. Mason, will not bear the presence of a gaping, 
singing, dancing, moralising, uninteresting crowd: and not 
love alone, but every passion, is checked and cooled by this 
fiddling crew. How could Macbeth and his wife have laid 
the design for Duncan's murder? What could they have 
said to each other in the hall at midnight not only if a chorus 
but if a single mouse had been stirring there ? Could Hamlet 
have met the Ghost or taken his mother to task in their 
company ? If Othello had said a harsh word to his wife 
before them, would they not have danced to the window and 
called the watch ? 

The ancients were perpetually crossed and harassed by the 
necessity of using the Chorus, and, if they have done wonders 

2 h 2 



468 APPENDIX. 

notwithstanding this clog, sure I am they would have per- 
formed still greater wonders without it, For the same reason 
we may be allowed to admit of more intrigue in our drama, 
to bring about a great action — it is often an essential requisite ; 
and it is not fair to argue against this liberty for that misuse 
of it which is common to us, and was formerly so with the 
French, namely, the giving into a silly intricacy of plot, in 
imitation of the Spanish dramas. We have also, since Charles 
the Second's time, imitated the French (though but awk- 
wardly) in framing scenes of mere insipid gallantry; but 
these were the faults of the writers and not of the art, which 
enables us, with the help of a little contrivance, to have as 
much love as we please, without playing the petits maitres or 
building labyrinths. 

I forgot to mention that Comedy continued to be an odd 
sort of farce, very like those of the Italian theatre, till the 
Chorus was dismissed, when nature and Menander brought 
it into that beautiful form which we find in Terence. Tragedy 
was not so happy till modern times. 

II. 

I do not admit that the excellences of the French writers are 
measured by the verisimilitude or the regularities of their 
dramas only. Nothing in them, or in our own, even Shak- 
spere himself, ever touches us, unless rendered verisimile, 
which, by good management, may be accomplished even in 
such absurd stories as the Tempest, the witches in Macbeth, or 
the fairies in the Midsummer Night's Dream ; and I know not 
of any writer that has pleased chiefly in proportion to his 
regularity. Other beauties may, indeed, be heightened and 
set off by its means, but of itself it hardly pleases at all. 
Venice Preserved or Jane Shore are not so regular as the 
Orphan, or Tamerlane, or Lady Jane Grey. 



APPENDIX. 469 



III. 



Modern Melpomene. — Here are we got into our tantarems ! 
It is certain that pure poetry may be introduced without any 
Chorus. I refer you to a thousand passages of mere description 
in the Iambic parts of Greek tragedies, and to ten thousand 
in Shakspere, who is moreover particularly admirable in his 
introduction of pure poetry, so as to join it with pure passion, 
and yet keep close to nature. This he could accomplish with 
passions the most violent and transporting, and this any 
good writer may do with passions less impetuous; for it is 
nonsense to imagine that tragedy must throughout be agitated 
with the furious passions, or attached by the tender ones: 
the greater part of it must often be spent in a preparation of 
these passions, in a gradual working them up to the light, 
and must thus pass through a great many cooler scenes and 
a variety of nuances, each of which will admit of a proper 
degree of poetry, and some the purest poetry. Nay, the 
boldest metaphors, and even description in its strongest colour- 
ing, are the natural expression of some passions, even in their 
greatest agitation. As to moral reflections, there is sufficient 
room for them in those cooler scenes that I have mentioned, 
and they make the greatest ornaments of those parts, that is 
to say, if they are well joined with the character. If not, 
they had better be left to the audience than put into the 
mouths of a set of professed moralists, who keep a shop of 
sentences and reflections (I mean the Chorus), whether they 
be sages, as you call them, or young girls that learnt them by 
heart out of their samples and primers. 

There is nothing ungracious or improper in Jane Shore's 
reflections on the fate of women, but just the contrary, only 
that they are in rhyme; and, in like manner, it is far 
from a beautiful variety when the Chorus makes a transition 



470 APPENDIX. 

in the from plain iambics to high-flown lyric thoughts, 

expressions, and numbers, and, when their vagaries are over, 
relapse again into common sense and conversation. A con- 
fidante in skilful hands might be a character, and have both 
sense and dignity. That in Maffei's Merope has as much as 
any Chorus. 

The Greeks might sing better than the French, but I'll be 
burnt if they danced with more grace, expression, or even 
pathos. Yet who ever thought of shedding tears at a French 
opera? 

IV. 

If modern music cannot, as you say, express poetry, it is 
not a perfection, but a deterioration. You might as well say 
that the perfectionnement of poetry would be the rendering it 
incapable of expressing the passions. 



APPENDIX II.- (See page 360.) 

The following Letter to the Printer of " The St. James's 
Chronicle" is ascribed to Mr. Archdeacon Black- 
burne, on the authority of the late Mr. Lockyer 
Davis, who was deep in the secrets of that respectable 
literary j ournal. (Nichols's Literary Illustrations, vol. 
iii. p. 715—718.) 

" SlR, Thursday, October 16, 1766. 

" There is a tribute of candid report due to the memory of 
men of genius and learning, how unfortunate soever they may 
have been in the application of their talents, or however they 
may have fallen short of that approbation which the publick 
has given to men of much inferior abilities, at the same time 



APPENDIX. 471 

that it hath been denied to them. I would endeavour to apply 
this reflection to the case of the unhappy Leucophasus,* who 
has just finished his mortal course in a way which some 
people may think has fully justified the world in the unfa- 
vourable sentiments that were so generally entertained of his 
literary conduct. Leucophasus is now out of the reach of 
every man's resentment, as well as of every man's envy ; and 
I would willingly hope, that a few dispassionate reflections 
upon his fortunes and his fate, from a person who knew some- 
thing of him at different times of his life, may not be offensive 
to those who have candour enough to make the requisite 
allowances for errors and frailties, which have been excused 
in others who had but a small portion of his merit to qualify 
them. Merit he certainly had, and merit will be allowed him 
by the capable readers, even of such of his writings as convey 
the most striking idea of the author's mental infirmities. 

" Few men have given earlier proofs of capacity and erudi- 
tion than Leucophaeus. His rising genius was marked and 
distinguished by the tendered patronage of some who had 
gained, and of others who thought they were gaining, the 
summit of fame in the republic of letters. With certain of the 
latter Leucophaeus entered into the most intimate connection, 
upon the assurance of being conducted, in virtue of that 
alliance, to as much reputation, and as great a proportion of 
emolument, as he had reason to look for. A fatal step ! which 
he never afterward could retrieve, when he most desired it. 
Had he preserved his independency, he had preserved his 
probity and honour; but he had parts, and he had ambition. 
The former might have eclipsed a jealous competition for 
fame ; the latter laid him open to practices proper to prevent 
it. No arts or allurements were omitted to attach him to a 

* The learned but unhappy Dr. John Brown ; of whom see Nichols's 
" Literary Anecdotes," vol. ii. p. 211. 



472 APPENDIX. 

party, which easily found the means to consign him to con- 
tempt the moment it was suspected that he was uneasy in his 
bonds, and that he was meditating expedients to break them. 

" An intimate friend spent a long evening with him, when 
he was literally on the road to his ruin;* that is to say, when 
he was going to confirm and cultivate the alliance above- 
mentioned. Leucophgeus's prospects were then talked over. 
He was warned to be aware of consequences; but the con- 
nection was formed, and must be adhered to ; and they who 
had heard Leucophasus harangue on that occasion, concerning 
the world with which he was going to engage, and concerning 
what would become him in his commerce with it, would have 
sworn that nothing could surprise his prudence, nothing- 
pervert his integrity. 

" Splendid and decorated guide-posts, promising straight and 
easy roads, often stand at the head of dirty, crooked lanes. 
These were pointed out to Leucophseus at his first setting for- 
wards. He soon found them fallacious indexes : he had the 
satisfaction, however, to have one example immediately before 
him, that shewed how well it might be worth the while of an 
aspirant to turn and wind about, and even to be a little bemired, 
in order to come at a comfortable lodging, clean linen, and a 
complete change of raiment. 

" But these were blessings which were not intended for 
Leucophseus. The tempter could have given the clue, which 
would have led his pupil through all difficulties ; but that 
might have spoiled his own game. He contented himself 
therefore with escorting Leucophgeus to the thickest of the 
filth, and there he fairly left him to the scorn and derision of 
lookers-on ; calmly observing, with a shrug, l If a man ivill 
expose himself, who can help it ? ' It happened, however, that 

* Alluding, perhaps, to his poem prefixed to Pope's Works, or his 
" Essays on the Characteristics." 



APPENDIX. 47& 

out of this piteous condition Leucophseus emerged, and with 
that vigour as in a great measure to recover his estimation* 
And here the tempter saw it necessary to strike in again. A 
little coaxing procured an act of oblivion for one of the crudest 
insults that could be offered to an ingenuous mind; and to 
shew the sincerity of his reconciliation, the first thing Leuco- 
phsBus did was to disfigure one of his capital performances, by 
copying the ungracious manner of the Grand Examplar. 

" At what period Leucophasus lost himself with the publick 
every one knows. At the same instant was he deserted by the 
alliance; and so apprehensive were they lest he should once 
more find such encouragement for his powers as might throw 
their importance into obscurity, that some pains were taken to 
have one door of preferment shut against him, even where the 
recommendation of the alliance would have been of no service 
to him had it been kept open. But they succeeded ; and in 
that success added one more to the many instances upon 
record, of the power and proclivity of many a man to do mis- 
chief, where he has neither the power nor the inclination to* 
do good. Certain fragments in the last thing * Leucophaeus 
committed to the press, throw some faint light upon this part 
of his history. 

" Leucophseus now found himself in a wide world, at enmity 
with him on every side. What was he to do ? Should he 
return to the paths of truth and probity, to which he had been 
so long a stranger ? Alas ! his credit, his weight was gone. 
His early connections had left a stain upon his character, which 
the after-conduct of an angel could hardly have discharged 
from the minds of honest men. It appeared by some very 
remarkable evidence that he was suspected to be the scout of 
the alliance, even to the very last. It has since appeared that 
his most zealous remonstrances against the imputation could 
* " Thoughts on Civil Liberty, Licentiousness, and Faction." 



474 APPENDIX. 

not perfectly clear him of that suspicion. What remained 
then for him, but to do — what numbers (perhaps a majority) 
of his brethren had done before him — what his original 
patrons and conductors were then doing — what the dexterous 
part of mankind generally find their account in doing ? — In 
one word, he temporized, but with this difference from the 
calmer speculators of the ground before them — he made his 
evolutions too quick and visible. Unhappily for him, the 
changes in the upper regions were frequent, sudden, and un- 
foreseen. To these he accommodated himself without hesita- 
tion ; and it was impossible that so immediate and so nimble 
transitions in so conspicuous a character, should not give the 
cue to the publick to mark Mm, rather than an hundred others, 
who really temporized no less than he, but who had the dis- 
cretion not to notify it upon paper, or (if that was unavoidable 
in an occasional sermon or so) who had the art to balance so 
cleverly as to leave matters in that sort of see-saw way, which 
affords the publick no clear indications of their present attach- 
ments. — Common fame says, that the last effort of Leuqp- 
phceus's genius was a panegyric on the Earl of Chatham.* 
This, probably, the sad catastrophe of the author broke off 
abruptly ; otherwise the publick had been favoured with it ere 
this. What the brotherhood in general think of the noble 
Earl, we shall hardly be informed in print before the end of 
January. Such is the difference between impetuosity and 
discretion in committing the same sin. 

" The last province allotted to Leucophseus was of a sort 
which implied a civil dismission from all his expectations at 
home. It is said to have been planned in a consultation of 
casuists, upon the same considerations which induce physicians 
to send their patients to Bath, when they chuse not to be 
longer troubled with their hypochondriacal complaints in 
* See Dr. Brown's " Estimate," vol. ii. 



APPENDIX. 475 

town. Leucophaeus was evidently contemptuously, unaccountably 
neglected; and the publick was eternally asking Why? He 
was a temporizer. What then ? is not temporizing the cardinal 
virtue of the age ? is it not almost the singular merit of that 
class of men to which LeucophEeus belonged ? To whomso- 
ever his trimming character was obnoxious, it should not have 
been so to those who denounce utter exclusion against all who 
are inflexibly tenacious of unpolite truths. Is an obsequious 
blockhead a greater credit to the cause he espouses, or a 
greater ornament to the master who employs him, than an 
obsequious genius ? No. But the former will be quiet, every 
way quiet ; and geniuses are apt to speculate, and speculation 
is apt to run foul of system, and to do mischief, even where 
the meaning is good enough. Aye, there was the rub ; Leuco- 
phaeus speculated once upon a time * on his quiet brethren, in 
the midst of their repose ; and for this he has ever since been 
called an impudent writer. But has it been duly considered 
in what respectable school he learned his impudence? Did 
he bring anything from that school but his impudence? And 
why should not impudence do as much for him as it has done 
for — others ? So reasoned the publick. And they who perhaps 
would not have employed Leucophaaus, where an honester man 
was to be had, could suggest no reason to themselves why he 
should not be employed by those who were no honester than 
himself. At length the dispute is ended. An office was 
contrived which would answer the highest demands of his 
ambition. He was to be the Solomon to a Queen of Sheba.^ 
A little solemn grimace in the quarter where it was first pro- 
posed drew him in to act his part in this egregious farce. Of 
all men upon earth, Leucophagus was the last to suspect 
design, when anything was said to his advantage. Compli- 
ments on this occasion were not spared; and as they came 
* Dr. Brown's " Estimate," vol. i. f Empress of Russia, 



476 APPENDIX. 

from the white-bearded fellow,* no gull was suspected. In- 
toxicated with this prospect, he became, what his insidious 
coaxers wanted him — perfectly ridiculous. After some time 
the loudness of the laugh roused him from his reverie. The 
length of the nap had sobered him. He inquired seriously of 
those who knew the best where all this was to end, and — 
behold! it was all a dream. The reflection was too much for 
the feeling, indignant spirit of LeucophaBus. A speedy end was 
put to it by an act of desperation, for which perhaps, at the 
final day of account, not Leucophseus alone shall be answerable. 
" I am, Sir, your humble servant, 

" ^Eacus." 



APPENDIX III.— (See page 458.) 

The sudden intimacy and almost romantic attachment of 
Gray to Bonstetten is so curious as to make some account of 
him not unacceptable, especially as his name is but little 
known in England. Charles von Bonstetten was Baillie of 
Nion, in the canton of Berne in Switzerland. When young, 
and his father still alive, he came and resided for a short 
time at Cambridge. He first appears in a letter to Mr. 
Nicholls, 6 January, 1770, in which he describes his pur- 
suing his studies with Gray. " I am in a hurry from morning- 
till evening. At eight o'clock I am roused by a young square- 
cap, with whom I follow Satan through chaos and night.f 
He explained me in Greek and Latin ' the sweet, reluctant, 
amorous delays'' of our grandmother Eve. We finish our 
travels in a copious breakfast of muffins and tea. Then appear 

* Dr. Warburton. 
' f That is, he read Milton's Paradise Lost. 



APPENDIX. 477 

Shakspere and old Linnaeus,* struggling together as two ghosts 
would do for a damned souL Sometimes the one got the 
better, sometimes the other. Mr. Gray, wdiose acquaintance 
is my greatest debt to you, is so good as to show me Macbeth, 
and all witches, beldames, ghosts, and spirits, whose language 
I never could have understood without his interpretation. I 
am now endeavouring to dress all these people in a French 
dress, which is a very hard labour. I am afraid to take a 
room, which Mr. Gray shall keep much better," &c. To this 
letter of young Bonstetten Gray has added the following post- 
script: — " I never saw such a boy; our breed is not made on 
this model. He is busy from morning to night ; has no other 
amusement than that of changing one study for another ; likes 
nobody that he sees here, and yet wishes to stay longer, though 
he has passed a whole fortnight with us already. His letter 
has had no correction whatever, and is prettier by half than 
English." In the next letter, March 20, 1770, Gray writes — 
" On Wednesday next I go (for a few days) with Mons. de 
Bonstetten to London. His father will have him home in 
the autumn, and he must pass through France to improve 
his talents and morals. He goes from Dover on Friday. I 
have seen (I own) with pleasure the efforts you have made to 
recommend me to him, sed non ego credulus illis, nor, I fear, 
he neither. He gives me too much pleasure, and at least an 
equal share of inquietude. You do not understand him so 
well as I do ; but I leave my meaning imperfect till we meet. 
I have never met with so extraordinary a person. God bless 
him! I am unable to talk to you about anything else, I 
think." The 4th April, 1770, P. Hall:— "At length, my 
dear sir, we have lost our poor De Bonstetten. I packed him 

* Gray's copy of Linnaeus, which in his later years was always on the 
table, and which was filled with his notes and pen-and-ink drawings, being 
interleaved for that purpose. It was sold with his other books. 



478 APPENDIX. 

up with my own hands in the Dover machine at four o'clock 
on the morning of Friday, 23rd March. The next day at 
seven he sailed, and reached Calais at noon, and Boulogne at 
night. The next night he reached Abbeville, where he had 
letters to Madame Vanrobais, to whom belongs the famous 
manufacture of cloth there, From thence he wrote to me; 
and here am I again to pass my solitary evenings, which hung 
much lighter on my hands before I knew him. This is your 
fault! Pray let the next you send be halt and blind, dull, 
unapprehensive, and wrongheaded. For there (as Lady Con- 
stance says) ' was never such a gracious creature born : ' and 
yet — but no matter. Burn my letter that I wrote you, for I 
am very much out of humour with myself, and will not 
believe a word of it. You will think I have caught madness 
from him (for he is certainly mad), and perhaps you will be 
right." Bonstetten is mentioned in three subsequent letters ; 
and in one from Mr. Nicholls, in January, 1771, it would 
appear as if Gray had meant to visit him at Berne (see 
Correspondence, p. 122); and in March Bonstetten entreats 
Gray and Nicholls, a deux genoux, to come (p. 130). Gray's 
health began to fail in the spring of this the last year of his 
life, and Nicholls took his journey alone in June. The last 
mention of Bonstetten was in a letter of Gray, 3rd May, when 
he was yet uncertain whether or not to venture abroad, and 
asking Nicholls to stay a week or fortnight for his determina- 
tion. In it he says, " Three days ago I had so strange a 
letter from Bonstetten, I hardly know how to give you any 
account of it, and desire you will not speak of it to anybody. 
That he has been ' le plus malheureux des hommes ;' that he 
has ' decide a quitter sa pays,' that is, to pass the next winter 
in England ; that he cannot bear ' la morgue de l'aristocratie 
et l'orgueil arme des loix:' in short, strongly expressive of 
uneasiness and confusion of mind, so as to talk of ' un pistolet ' 



APPENDIX. 479 

and ' du courage,' and all without the shadow of a reason 
assigned; and so he leaves me. He is either disordered in 
his intellect (which is too possible), or has done some strange 
thing which has exasperated his whole family and friends at 
home, which (I'm afraid) is equally possible. I am quite at 
a loss about it. You will see and know more ; but by all 
means curb these vagaries and wandering imaginations, if 
there be any room for counsels," &c. Three letters from 
Gray to Bonstetten, in April and May, 1770, are printed in 
Gray's Works, ed. Aid. vol. iv. p. 179, which are taken from 
an edition of Mathison's Letters translated and published by 
Miss Plumtree in 1799. By the advertisement to the work 
it appears that Mason's application to Bonstetten for these 
letters met with a refusal, Mathison had alluded to Bon- 
stetten under the name of Agathon in his stanzas on the 
Leman Lake: — 

When Agathon, the Muses', Greece's pride, 

The palace's delight, the peasant's stay, 
E'en here, to distant Jura's shaggy side, 

In warmest friendship clasp'd me as his Gray. 

In the year 1822, when I was in Switzerland, the Hon. W. 
Ward, who was there at the same time, informed me that he 
called on Bonstetten, who said to him that " Gray took lodgings 
for me at Cambridge, and I used to visit him in the evening, 
and read classical authors with him ;" and nothing more was ob- 
tained from him. Bonstetten died at Genoa, Feb. 1832, aged 
87. He was author of several works, as " Letters on the Pas- 
toral Poets of Switzerland;" "The Hermit," an Alpine tale, 
1787 ; on Education at Berne, 1786 ; and others better known, 
as " L'Homme du Midi et l'Homme du Nord," and "Les Six 
derniers Livres de 1'iEneide." Some account of him may be 
found in the Autobiography of Sir Egerton Brydges, vol. i. 



480 APPENDIX. 

pp. 117, 330, and Kestituta, iii. 542, and in the Biographie 
des Hommes Vivans. The year before M. Bonstetten died 
(1831) he wrote a little work called " Souvenirs de Chevalier 
Victor de Bonstetten," in which a curious and interesting 
account of Gray's life is to be found, and which forms a very 
good commentary on the previous narrative. 

" Dix-huit ans avant mon sejour a Nyon, j'avais passe 
quelques mois a Cambridge avec le celebre poete Gray, presque 
dans la meme intimite qu'avec Mathison, mais avec cette 
difference, que Gray avait trente ans plus que moi, et Mathison 
seize de moins. Ma gaiete, mon amour pour la poesie Angloise, 
que je lisait avec Gray, l'avaient comme subjugue, de maniere 
que la difference de nos ages n'etait plus sentie par nous. 
J'etais loge a Cambridge dans un cafe, voisin du Pembroke 
Hall. Gray y vivait enseveli dans une espece du cloitre, d'ou 
le quinzieme siecle n'avait pas encore demenage. La ville de 
Cambridge avec ses colleges solitaires n'etait qu'une reunion 
de couvens, ou les mathematiques, et quelques sciences, ont 
pris la forme et le costume de la theologie du moyen age. De 
beaux couvens a longs et silencieux corridores, des solitaires en 
robes noirs, des jeunes seigneurs travestis en moines, a bonnets 
carres, portant des souvenirs des moines a cote de la gloire de 
Newton. Aucune femme honnete ne venait egayer la vie de ces 
rats de livres a forme humaine. Le savoir prosperait quelque- 
fois dans le desert du coeur. Tel j'ai en Cambridge en 1769. 
Quel contraste de habit de Gray a Cambridge avec cette de 
Mathison a Nyon. Gray en se condamnant a vivre a Cam- 
bridge, oubliait que le genie du poete languit dans la seche- 
resse du cceur. Le genie poetique de Gray etait tellement 
eteint dans le sombre manoir de Cambridge, que le souvenir de 
ses poesies lui etaient odieux, II ne permit jamais de lui en parler. 
Quand je lui citais quelques vers de lui, il se lui fait comme un 
enfant obstine. Je lui disais quelquefois, ' Voulez vous bien me 



APPENDIX. 481 

repondre?' Mais aucune parole ne sortait de sa bouche. Je 
le voyais tous les soirs, de cinque lieures a minuit. Nous 
lisions Shakspere, qu'il adoroit, Dryden, Pope, Milton, &c. ; et 
nos conversations, comme celle de l'amitie, n'arrivaient jamais 
a la derniere pensee. Je racontrai a Gray ma vie et mon 
pays ; mais toute sa vie a lui etait fermee pour moi. Jamais 
il ne me parlait de lui. II y avait chez Gray, entre le present 
et le passe, un abime infranchisable. Quand je voulais un 
approche, de sombres nuees venaient le couvrir. Je crus que 
Gray n'avait jamais aime; c'etait le mot de Fenigme, et en 
etait resulte une misere de cceur, qui faisait contraste avec son 
imagination ardente et profonde, que, au lieu de faire le bonheur 
de sa vie, n'etait que le tourment. Gray avait la gaiete dans 
l'esprit, et de la melancolie dans le caractere. Mais cette 
melancolie n'est qu'un besoin non satisfait de la sensibilite. 
Chez Ch^ay elle tenait au genre de vie de son ame ardente, 
releguee sous le pole arctique de Cambridge." 

" Mr. Miller, who was curator of the physic garden at 
Cambridge, gave lectures on botany and on Linnaeus to a 
Mons. Bonstetten, who studied at Cambridge for some months 
in a house opposite Pembroke Hall, where he lodged, chiefly 
on account of the vicinity to Mr. Gray of Pembroke, who had 
brought him from London to Cambridge. He was a most 
studious young gentleman, of a most amiable figure, and was 
son to the treasurer of the canton of Berne in Switzerland, 
whither he returned in March, 1770, on his leaving Cam- 
bridge, through Paris, not staying at London above a day or 
two. Mr. Miller read lectures to him to the very last day of 
his being at Cambridge." — Coll. for Athena? Cantabrigienses, 
by Cole. 

There is an anecdote of Bonstetten while he was staying at 
Madame de Stael's house at Coppet in the Memoires de Jo- 
sephine, p. 106 ; and Bonstetten gives an account of his friend 



482 APPENDIX. 

Mathison's life certainly very different from that of Gray: 
" Apres diner, il s'evadait furtivement pour faire de la poe'sie 
d'amour, avec quelque aimable et jeune personne." The 
description, however, of his apartment at the end of the 
gallery of the old chateau at Nion is very pleasing. 



APPENDIX IV.— (See p. 459.) 

As a specimen of the correct manner in which the French 
writers treat our literary history, I here give an anecdote 
from a work bearing a high character in France, viz. Bar- 
bier, Bibliotheque d'un Homme de Gout, vol. i. p. 425. 
" Gray. — Gray, dit M. Hennet, dans sa Poetique Anglaise, 
se trouvant un jour a une vente des livres, regardait une belle 
collection des meilleurs auteurs Francois, tres bien reliee, et 
du prix de cent guinees. II temoignait a un de ses amis 
le regret d'etre hors d'etat de l'acheter ; la Duchesse de 
Northumberland, qui l'entendit, s'informa adroitement de cet 
ami, qu'il etoit. lis se retirement avant elle, et Gray trouva, 
en rentrant chez lui, la collection, avec un billet de la 
duchesse, qui le pria de l'excuser, si elle lui offrait un aussi 
foible gage de sa reconnoissance, pour le plaisir qu'elle avoit 
eprouve a la lecture de l'Elegie sur un Cimetiere de Cam- 
pagne." It is useless to conjecture on what foundation this 
extraordinary romance could have been built. The same 
writer says, that, after translating Virgil, Dryden commenced 
his dramatic career, and that Gay died of grief from the 
Lord Chamberlain forbidding the representation of the Beggar's 
Opera; that Cowley was employed in political negotiations 
by Charles the First and Second; and that Young died of 
grief from the loss of a virtuous wife and two young children. 



APPENDIX. 483 

He mentions with praise a translation of Paradise Lost by 
Mons. St. Maur, but says, " Le traducteur n'a pas toujours 
suivi literalement son original. Tantot il en a adouci quelques 
traits, tantot il en a retranche d'autres. II en a supprime 
quelques uns ; par example, dans le livre neuvieme, ou lapudeur 
n'est point assez menagee, lorsque le poete fait la peinture 
des plaisirs que les premieres atteintes de la concupiscence 
font chercher a Adam et Eve apres leur chute. Mais il en 
reste assez dans la traduction, pour fair sentir que Milton, 
quoique Chretien, n'avoit pas sur cet article la meme deli- 
catesse que montre Virgile dans la quatrieme livre de son 
Eneide. D. de St. Maur a aussi epargne au lecteur la plupart 
des details, dans lequels le poete entre sur le chemin que le 
superflu des alimens prenoit dans les esprits celestes, comment 
il se dissipait par la transpiration ; et il y a d'autres imagi- 
nations encore plus extravagantes dans le poeme Anglais dont 
quelques unes n'ont point, avec raison, ete traduites par l'ecri- 
vain Francois," &c. 



2k 



484 APPENDIX. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 
Page 190. On Lord G. Sackville, see a remarkable note in 
Grenville Correspondence, iv. p. 173. 

Page 213. On the death of Lady Hervey and ber will, see 
Grenville Correspondence, iv. p. 357. 

Page 255 . On Sir Richard Lyttelton, see Grenville Corre- 
spondence, iv. p. 528. Sir Richard's nephew, Thomas Pitt, 
afterwards Lord Camelford, erected an obelisk to his memory 
in the park at Boconnoc, in Cornwall, now the property of 
Lady Grenville, 

Page 317. On Humphrey Cotes, see Wilkes's Letters in 
Grenville Correspondence, iv. p. 3 and p. 16. 

Page 338. On the Bedford Riots in 1765, see Grenville 
Correspondence, iii. p. 164. " The Duke of Bedford showed 
him (Mr. Grenville) a stone of five or six pounds weight 
which had been thrown at him into his chariot. He parried 
the blow with his hand, which was wounded by it, notwith- 
standing which it had struck his temple," &c. p. 168. 

Page 352. (Married.) An anecdote, on good authority, is 
told of this lady, that, on the morning of the marriage, and 
after the ceremony was concluded, Mason presented his bride 
with a complimentary copy of verses, which she, without 
looking at them, crumpled up and thrust into her pocket. 

Page 364. On Mr. Prowse, see Grenville Correspondence, 
i. pp. 397, 398, 402. 

Page 385. " The Duke of York invited Lady C. Edwin to 
his play on Saturday." See Grenville Correspondence, iv. 
p. 227. 

Page 407. On C. Townshend's death, see Grenville Cor- 
respondence, iv. p. 158. 

Page 424. On the King of Denmark in England, see Gren- 
ville Correspondence, iv. pp. 342, 365. 



APPENDIX. 485 

Page 426. (Dr. G .) Dr. Gisborne was the second son of 

the Rev. James Gisborne, Rector of Staveley, Derbyshire, and 
Prebendary of Durham. He had three brothers ; the eldest 
a General in the army. 

Page 439. On the "remonstrance," the speech of Beckford, 
see Grenville Correspondence, iv. p. 517. " He died three 
weeks afterwards, from the effect of a violent fever, caused, as 
was supposed, by political excitement.' 1 As a public monu- 
ment has been erected by the city of London in honour of 
their patriotic magistrate, it is certainly interesting to know 
as exactly as we can on what grounds his claim to that honour 
has been derived. I therefore again consulted my friend Mr. 
Maltby, who says that Mr. Home Tooke told him, " that he 
with others was waiting at the Mansion House when Beckford 
returned from St. James's; that he was asked what he had 
said ? and his answer was, that he was so flurried that he 
could not remember any part of it. ' But,' said Home Tooke, ' it 
is necessary that a speech should be given to the public,' and 
accordingly he went into a room and wrote the one which is 
attributed to Beckford." Mr. Maltby said that Home Tooke 
invariably mentioned the speech as his composition ; and 
that some years since he (Mr. Maltby) had a request from the 
corporation of the city to give them some information on this 
point. 



WESTMINSTER : 

JOHN BOWYER NICHOLS AND SONS, 

25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



Page xxiv. — " Gray, in the safe privacy of a college life, 
pondered over the profoundest subjects with an undisturbed 
force of meditation, repeated year after year, till the very 
intensity hazarded a mistake of the native character of what 
he contemplated. But he had no temptations to error from 
the delusive mists of passion or interest. The world had 
neither promotions nor distinctions to offer him. He had in 
his own possession the means of independence. He sought not 
the notice of rank ; he had something which approached to 
contempt of popular fame. His main satisfaction, exclusive 
of the pleasure of the immediate employment, probably arose 
from the proof he afforded himself of his own skill." — Sir 
Egerton Brydges's Anti-Critic. 

Page 75. — Sir Egerton Brydges, in enumerating the names 
of poets whom, he says, Mr. Campbell has overlooked in his 
Specimens, with not a little injustice, has mentioned Dr. 
Delap. See Anti-Critic, p. 99. 

Page 193. CENOTAPH 

FOR 

The Church of Monks' Horton, in Kent. 

This Tablet is inscribed 

as a memorial of 

The Rev. William Robinson, A.M. 

Rector of Burfield in Berkshire, 

and formerly also Rector of Denton, 

in the county of Kent, 

2 K 



486 ADDITIONAL NOTES. 

Who died in Dec. 1803, aged (circ.) 76. 

He was one of the younger 

Sons of Matthew Robinson, of this 

Parish of Horton, Esq. by Elizabeth, 

Heiress of the family of Morris ; 

Whose mother re-married the learned Conyers Middleton, D.D. 

And the said Matthew was 

Grandson of Sir Leonard Robinson, Kt. 

one of the sons of Thomas Robinson, 

of Rokeby, in the county of York, Esq. 

By his marriage (in 1621) with 

Frances, daughter of Leonard Smelt, of 

Kirby-Fletham, Esq. by ... . Allanson. 

The said William Robinson 

was a good and ripe scholar, 

a man of highly cultivated taste, and 

superior native talent. 

He was the friend and companion 

of men of genius, 

and especially intimate with the Poet Gkay. 

He had two sisters distinguished for literature, 

of whom Elizabeth, widow of Edward Montagu, Esq. 

is celebrated for her Essay on Shakspere 

and her Epistolary genius. 

In Nov. 1800, by the death of his 

Elder brother, Matthew second Lord Rokeby, 

he succeeded by demise to a portion 

of his estates in Kent, Yorkshire, 

Durham, and Cambridgeshire, 

and to a large personal property. 

He left one son 

and two daughters, his 

Survivors. 

See Anti-Critic of Sir Egerton Brydges, LX. p. 299. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 487 

Page 207. — As the reader of these letters must have 
received a somewhat ludicrous impression of the character of 
the Duke of Newcastle, from the language in which Gray 
alludes to him, perhaps a perusal of the Dedication to Dr. 
Bentley's edition of Manilius to the same illustrious person 
may not be without its advantage. In this he appears — 
" quantum mutatus ab illo" — at once the learned student, the 
disinterested patriot, and the munificent patron of the Univer- 
sity. This Dedication was written in the year 1739, and we 
must believe that another quarter of a century had somewhat 
dimmed the splendour of the ducal coronet in the eyes of the 
poet. 

Page 256. — (The son: that is, Edward Wortley Montagu.) 
Of this eccentric and remarkable person no satisfactory 
account, so far as I know, has yet been given. Mrs. Piozzi 
calls him " the learned and highly accomplished son of Lady 
Mary, who imbibed her taste and talents for sensual delights, 
who has been long known in England. It is not so known, 
perhaps, that there is a showy monument erected to his 
memory at Padua, setting forth his variety and compass of 
knowledge in a long Latin inscription," &c. His real monu- 
ment would be formed of as many strange and discordant 
materials as ever composed a human character. 

Page 294. — (Lady Coventry.) Mrs. Piozzi, whose testi- 
mony has not been called into court as yet on this subject, 
says, " True perfection of female beauty appeared among us 

in the form of Maria Gunning Attesting spectators have 

often manifested their just admiration by repeated bursts of 
applause to the countess, who, calling for her carriage one 
night at the theatre — i" saw her — stretched out her arm with 
such a peculiar, such an inimitable manner, as forced a loud 
and sudden clap from all the pit and galleries, which she, 



488 ADDITIONAL NOTES. 

conscious of her charms, delighted to increase and prolong, 
glancing round with a familiar smile to all the enraptured 
company. " This is a curious picture of the feelings of the 
people and the manners of the times in 1760. 

Page 417.— (Delaval family.) " In England talents claim 
power to cast a gleam of glory on their lineage, and the name 
of Boyle is considered by every one as greater, for that sole 
reason, I suppose, than Delaval, although his pedigree be drawn 
from Harold of Norway." — PiozzL 

Page 440. — The celebrated " Anglesey case " forms the 
foundation of the story of " Le Forester, a tale, 3 vols. 8vo. 
1802, by Sir Egerton Brydges." He calls the case " one of 
the longest, most laborious, and most curious trials of filiation 
that ever occurred before a jury ; a trial which fills a printed 
folio volume." 

Page 458.- — Mr. Bonstetten's later publications were — 

1. " Eecherches sur la Nature et les Lois de lTmagina- 
tion." 

2. " Etudes de l'Homme ; ou, Eecherches sur les Facultes 
de Sentir, et de Penser." Geneve, 1821. 2 vols. 

His various and interesting works have not been, I believe, 
uniformly collected, nor have they gained that attention in 
this country which their merits would entitle them to claim. 



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